Mass Effect 3: Fate of the Galaxy
by GhostWriter83
Summary: The Reapers are coming and Shepard needs to unite the galaxy against them. My take on ME3, but I'll add as much originality as possible. Shepard will have the default name and appearance. He is Earthborn/Soldier/War hero/Paragade. Pairing: Shepard (M)/Miranda L.
1. Prologue: Uncertain Feelings

The brunette had never experienced these emotions before, it was something new and she didn't know what to do. She couldn't understand how he could have affected her like that. To begin with Miranda Lawson had never really liked him; John Shepard had that bloody arrogant hero vibe over him but she certainly did respect his abilities, but not his motivations. She had spent the past two years working on him; bringing someone back to life was an enormous technological and scientific feat. At first the Illusive Man wanted to know the feasibility of actually recruiting the Commander for the sole purpose of finding and stopping a new emerging threat, the Collectors, and for a short time that was the mission she had been handed, but that changed. Project Lazarus started, and it was an assignment she would carry out without hesitation, without any emotional attachments.

_How wrong I've been._

Everything the Commander had done so far was impressive to say the least, fighting through Omega and the Collector attack on Horizon was nothing to scoff at. And he also tried to help those that asked him, which was understandable as the team and crew would charge in to certain death. The team he had assembled so far gave him their lives, and in return he would be there for them if needed. But not everything had gone smoothly; he didn't believe in Cerberus despite what the organization had done for him. And then Shepard had handed over sensitive material to Jack.

Miranda couldn't fathom why. And what puzzled her even more was that the Illusive Man had mostly just shrugged when she had reported his transgression. How he could let Shepard have command and carry out as he saw fit with sensitive Cerberus material was mindboggling to say the least. Miranda couldn't understand why the Illusive Man wanted such a vile person as Jack to be part of the mission to begin with. Let alone onboard a Cerberus vessel. The crazed biotic hated Cerberus and everyone associated with the organization and she could put the entire mission in danger. But to Shepard's credit he had actually kept her under control since they had rescued her from the fiery inferno of the Purgatory prison. Strange what effects Shepard could have on people.

Miranda sighed as she tiredly rubbed her eyes. She contemplated Shepard's strengths.

He was a very level headed person, not that emotions couldn't get the better of him, but he was a natural leader. No wonder his test scores from enlistment was off the charts. He always took time to listen to anyone's ideas and he was respectful. Even when the two of them had disagreements and she boiled with anger as he had gotten under her skin (which he frequently did), Shepard had remained calm and continued to explain in a reasonable fashion why he decided on a certain course of action.

Miranda leaned into the couch and crossed a leg over the other.

_God, that smile of his. And he certainly is easy on the eyes too..._

_Stop it, Miranda!_

_Why do I think about him so much?_

The entire situation had deteriorated to some teenage fling. For quite some time now they had been friendly. They had debated about Cerberus and the state of the galaxy, they had shared meals together and they were even teasing each other frequently. She was an adult and yet whenever there was downtime Shepard always appeared in her mind. Whenever she saw him on the ship she secretly glanced at him.

And here they were on the Normandy still docked to Illium. She sat in her leather couch and pondered what had happened to this day. It did not happen over a day, but slowly she had warmed up to him. She always though that action spoke louder than words and Shepard had done amazing things. Shepard was an enigma, an unstoppable force in combat, but yet he cared for people. Shepard got along with the soldiers of the group, Zaeed, Jacob and Garrus. And the Turian was Shepard's closest friend. Their banter was actually very amusing to listen to.

Eventually both Shepard and Miranda had began to respect each other, and Miranda respected his moral convictions, and he never turned away from making difficult decisions. Two years earlier in the hunt for Saren, Shepard decided to leave a man behind on Virmire; Lieutenant Kaiden Alenko died in the nuclear blast. Miranda suspected that Shepard had likely taken the death of a comrade hard, but she knew he would make such a call again if necessary.

And just a few hours earlier he had helped her with something personal. He had helped her save Oriana from the grasps of their crazed father. Without hesitation he had agreed to help her after she had explained the predicament that her sister...was in danger. The mercs never knew what hit them as the unstoppable force of Shepard cut through their lines. He even convinced her to go and talk to Oriana, Miranda did not want to complicate Oriana's life, but Shepard's reasoning had convinced her to tell Oriana that she had a sister, a sister that cared and loved her. Neither of this would have happened without Shepard's help. Her sister was much younger, but so beautiful, filled with joy and had a happy life full with love. This had an impact on Miranda and their meeting made her happy, they had promised to stay in touch, and it was worth it, all of it. She had a reason to fight the Collectors now and the Reapers, more so than the objectives of Cerberus.

She felt the need to talk to Shepard.

"EDI, where's the Commander?"

The synthesized female voice was heard in her room. _"He is resting in his quarters, operative Lawson."_

"Sleeping?"

_"No."_

"Thank you, EDI."

Miranda rose from the couch.

_"Logging you out, operative Lawson."_

* * *

Shepard lied on his bed with his BDU's still on, looking up the window in the roof and watched the graceful asari buildings of Nos Astra. It had been a long day, or it felt so; combat was hectic, fast and exhausting. They had combated the mercs and secured the area, Miranda's sister and family was in the space port none the wiser of what had happened.

His mind drifted to Miranda again; she was a beautiful woman, rarely did she smile or even laugh, but it did happen occasionally. She had been a difficult woman to read; always focused on the task at hand and with some exceptional problems in trusting others. But the two of them had gotten closer, and she had trusted him with her sister and their father. She had never talked about her personal life like that before, she seemed so vulnerable.

_Creating daughters, for what? Personal gain? Jesus…_

Shepard could not understand such reasoning when Miranda told her story about her childhood, and when she took away her sister from their father, Shepard finally understood why Miranda was so loyal to Cerberus. They had taken her in as she ran from her father, and because they had hidden away her sister and giving the young child a normal life and family, Miranda would be loyal to the organization. But Shepard didn't trust Cerberus, except present company of course. He felt a connection with Jacob; he was not what he was expecting from a Cerberus operative. That he had problems with Cerberus checkered past had been slightly surprising.

And what about Miranda? He was attracted to her, the sexual tension had grown these past days, and it was felt in the air whenever they were alone, the tension was almost palpable. They got along much easier now; finding time to chat and debate everything and anything, there had been a remarkable personal change between the two of them. He could swear that she gazed upon him from time to time. Was she admiring him as he admired her?

A knock on the door turned his mind back to reality and he sat up on the bed.

Shepard called out, "Yes?"

The door hissed as it opened, the light from the hall outside his room lit up the person from behind; it was Miranda. She walked into the room and down the small stairs towards his sleeping quarters, Shepard slid over the bed as they met halfway between the stairs and the bed.

"I wanted to thank you, Shepard," She spoke with a soft voice. "I appreciate you taking your time and helped me. I don't want to think about what the result would have been if you had not been there."

"Just glad I could help you. I guess you are satisfied that Oriana was moved elsewhere."

"Yes," their eyes met and she gave him a smile. "She has a normal life now."

"Will you keep in touch?"

Miranda nodded and flashed a smile, "Yes, we will keep in touch."

"Does Cerberus know where she is?"

Miranda was quiet for a while and looked down. "No."

Shepard was surprised. "Why?"

_This was interesting, __Shepard noted._

"I just felt it would be better that as few people as possible know about her location." She walked away to one of the couches and sat down.

She did not really know why she had retracted that information from the Illusive Man. Had Shepard turned her? Had he swayed to her doubts? No, she was still part of Cerberus, one of the Illusive Man's most trusted operatives. Her assignment was to keep an eye on Shepard, a task set out by the Illusive Man...but that had all changed, she had become attracted to him in more ways than one. She'd changed; she felt more at ease now after knowing that her sister was safe. Miranda felt...happy.

Shepard broke the silence as he sat down on the bedside in front of her. "How do you feel about Niket?"

When they had encountered the mercenary leader, the asari had been accompanied by Niket, Miranda's only childhood friend that she still trusted and had not severed contact with. Miranda had wanted to kill Niket, but Shepard had intervened, he had forced his hand around her hand and turned the gun away from Niket.

"I can't understand that Niket betrayed me. I did not see that coming. When I left my father, I broke of connections with everyone, except Niket."

She remembered that she had turned cold when Niket had revealed that her father wanted Oriana back, that _he _was helping her father. She quickly realized his betrayal. Niket then explained that her father had no details about Oriana, and at that moment she understood that Niket was the only loose end and had to be dealt with. But Shepard stopped her! She'd was absolutely furious at him, glaring at him as he tried to disarm the situation but Niket agreed that he would lie to her father. Miranda told Niket that if he ever told her father-

But the sound of a shotgun echoed in the docking terminal, effectively silencing Miranda. Niket's body fell to the ground; Captain Enyala had shot Niket. In the ensuing battle, Enyala and the other mercenaries were killed. It was satisfying feeling for Miranda after they had tried to take away Oriana. Miranda still felt betrayed by Niket, but Shepard had probably been right, she would have eventually regret killing him if she had pulled the trigger.

"But I would like to thank you for stopping me from killing him." But she still had feelings of inadequacies, "Despite my genetic tailoring, I could not see his betrayal. It was a mistake I'll learn from."

"You are still human, Miranda, we all make mistakes. And why are you always bringing up this about your father?"

She shrugged. "This is who I am, Shepard, nothing can change that. My intelligence, my looks and abilities were all tailored and paid for by my father."

"I can't admire your looks or mind?" Shepard asked with a sly smile. "I think you give your father too much credit, he might have given you all that, but you made something out of it all. You should be proud."

Shepard's charming smile and words almost made Miranda blush, which was very out of character for her. She tried her best to suppress that, unsure if Shepard had noticed, but she returned his smile. "Oh, well thank you, John."

_John?_ _Now that was interesting, and a first from her_, Shepard reflected.

"Perhaps I wouldn't mind if you admired my body." She teased with a sensual smile, fully knowing Shepard eyed her body. Together in Shepard's quarters with dimmed lights, alone, the sexual tension rose. But Miranda's issues regarding her genetic tailoring was always there. Her father wanted the perfect woman to secure his empire with a genetic dynasty. That's why he created Miranda; she was not the first daughter he had created, merely the first one he had kept.

But because of Shepard's natural leadership and charisma, that could make anyone trust him and follow him to hell, she had resented John Shepard. He had accomplished things due to his natural skills, and she felt inadequate about herself precisely because of that. But she did not resent the man that sat in front of her anymore.

Shepard rose from the bed, and almost automatically Miranda stood up from the couch, she could not understand why, but she felt compelled to do so. She felt as she was in trance, and she took a step closer.

"I bet you don't." Shepard teased and wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. Their eyes met, as she rested her arms around his neck. They leaned in on each other with eyes shut as they slowly kissed.

Her heart began to beat faster from the physical contact, she could feel a wave of chemical reactions as a tingly sensation and the vivid flowing of her blood rushed through her body. It was an intoxicated newfound feeling of euphoria that she needed more of. But amid the wonderful moment she pulled back and removed her arms from his shoulders, Shepard loosened his embrace around her.

Shepard gave her a bewildered look, "What?"

Miranda sighed. "I...Shepard." Miranda crossed her arms in a defensive manner. "I don't know what this is, if this is just blowing of steam from all the stress, or..."

"Why analyze everything? Why just not get caught in the moment?" Shepard gave her a smug, cheeky smile.

Miranda snapped at him, "Because we're on a dangerous mission, because you and I know more about the Reapers and the Collectors than most, because this is no time for emotional entanglements! Take your pick. We both know how unlikely we are to survive this."

She shook her head in frustration and then stared at the wall behind Shepard, unable to look into his eyes. She had always detached herself from people, never gotten close to anyone, and raised a wall of cold professionalism, hiding her inadequacies and whatever feelings she could have for others. And now Shepard had almost destroyed all the safe-guards she had built up. She felt powerless.

Shepard gave the Australian a look of empathy, he understood her misgivings, and he knew that their chances of survival were slim when they eventually would go through the Omega 4 Relay. Plus, she belonged to Cerberus and he was, or at least had been, Alliance. There was conflict of interest. But she did not treat him as the living legend that the galaxy thought of him, he was sick and tired of having the fate of the galaxy in his hands. But he wanted this, and he suspected she also shared that sentiment, considering the kiss they just shared. Why not enjoy the moments they could have together? Of course the prospect of either of them dying in combat and the other one had to live on with that pain was of course disconcerting.

Back when they were chasing Saren, he never considered that he would fall for Ashley in the midst of everything, but he had. But that was over by now, anything they could have together was destroyed the day the Collectors attacked the Normandy, and the day Ash had hatefully criticized him for joining Cerberus. Shepard had felt betrayed an abandoned that day on Horizon. _Was he seeking solace in Miranda's arms?_ He never had thought for a second that he would develop feelings for a Cerberus operative. But here they were, silent in his quarters, at a crossroad of choices.

Miranda shrugged. "What bunch of idiotic hormones thought that now was a great time for love?"

"Love? Who said anything about love, I'm just trying to get you into bed," Shepard responded with a carefree grin.

Miranda giggled at his remark. "Shepard. Why do you always try to make me laugh?"

"It's my mission in life."

"What about _our_ mission. What about the future?" She turned serious again.

"I don't know," Shepard said gently. "I can't predict the future." He reached down and took her hands in his. He gave her a faint smile.

_Damn you Shepard, why do you do this to me?_ She was silent for a few moments.

"Don't get yourself killed." She pleaded with a soft voice and squeezed his hands.

"I can only promise that I will do my best not to get killed." He let go of her hands and wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to kiss her.

This time around, Miranda did not pull herself away from Shepard.

* * *

Hours later, Miranda slowly woke up under the bed sheet. The room was lit up by the fish tank and the slightly lit up world came into view as she opened her eyes. The entire situation felt strange to Miranda. She was resting her head on Shepard's shoulder and during the night she had wrapped her arm around his torso. The only sound besides the humming from the engines was his light snoring.

For Miranda sex had never had anything to do with emotions or romance. She had never bothered with such intimacy. Whenever she had met someone in the past it had simply been pleasure for the moment and it had usually been quick encounters.

And this would have been as good a time as any to leave. Although considering the close proximity onboard the Normandy, such a decision could turn awkward for both of them.

But that was not the reason she stayed.

Commander John Shepard was a man unlike any she had encountered before. She had tried to keep her distance. When he had first approached her and attempted to start up a friendly conversation she had brusquely brushed him off as she always did when someone tried to get to close to her. Miranda was an independent woman and relied on her own devices. And friendship, or in this case a possible relationship, was something she frowned upon.

Carrying out operations for Cerberus she did unattached.

She had co-workers. Not friends.

And she definitely did not have a boyfriend.

No. She stopped that line of thought. Matter of fact, Miranda did not know what he was to her now.

She regarded the man lying next to her with professional respect. He was a competent commanding officer and team leader. As anyone in Shepard's presence she got closer and was drawn in. They became friends. Something she had never been with any one on past missions. Well, at least with the exception of Jacob. And she thought she had learned something from that encounter, but with her current predicament she realized she hadn't learned anything at all. And ending up in bed was something she had never anticipated would happen between her and Shepard.

Not that she was complaining; it had been…liberating. This was the first time in a long time she had sex, and he wasn't bad at all, and despite her reservations she looked forward to further…encounters.

But she wanted this, she truly did. She knew it, and Shepard certainly did. He refused not to be let in; she had given him glimpses of another Miranda that was so unlike the Cerberus loyalist, and Shepard demanded to get to know that person. And somewhere down the line last night Miranda had caved in. She had caved because John Shepard wanted her, and no man had ever wanted her before in that way, or looked at her like Shepard did. And even though her calculated and logical mind scoffed at what was happening, her heart didn't. Her brilliant mind analyzed the situation, but her heart didn't lie, it knew exactly what it wanted.

And it scared her.

* * *

_**Edited (2012-08-15): Some grammar changes.**_

_****__**Edited (2012-08-28): Some additional writing on Miranda's thoughts on the subject added.  
**_

_****__**Edited (2013-01-01): Changed chapter title, old one to be used later.  
**_

_****__**Edited (2013-01-10): Made some changes, removed some things, rewrote several passages.  
**_

_****__****__****__**Edited (2013-04-01): Changes were made, passages rewritten, grammar fixed.**_


	2. They Came Without Warning

_The Hero of Elysium, the first human SPECTRE, the Savior of the Citadel and now...traitor?_

That last part did not sound well for a future resume mused Shepard who sat in a chair and gave the live morning news feed on the monitor in front of him a cursory glance. Several pundits were discussing the current state of affairs in the galaxy and as per usual the Terra Firma representative thought it would be great to distance humans from the Citadel and the rest of the galaxy to go their separate way, which another pundit claimed would give Earth problems of being a 'rogue race'.

And so it continued.

Shepard was in no way interested in the show, but he felt he needed the sound as it would be too quiet in the room otherwise. He pondered what had happen the last six months since he had turned himself over the Alliance. The team had not taken his decision to turn himself over lightly; they had all balked at it, wondering what he was thinking. But their mission was over and he felt compelled to do it after Admiral Hackett's visit to the Normandy. Shepard had dismissed the team from the briefing room and promised them they would all be allowed to leave before he left for Earth, they had done their part.

Later, in his quarters, Miri arrived and questioned his decision, one moment she scolded him and reverted back to her calculated, professional and determined XO persona, and a moment later she had embraced him and begged him not to turn himself over. The Alliance were not to be trusted she argued, Shepard was sought after. They would lock him in somewhere and toss away the key. She could not stand the thought; they had a ship, a good team and retained the funds from Cerberus and they could still fight.

But he had to do it he explained to her, the Reapers were coming and all races had to unite against them otherwise it would be the end of everything they knew. She understood his plan, but it could jeopardize everything. Then Shepard teased her that she cared for him, he would be back he said and then he kissed her.

Shepard returned to the present with a smile remembering fond memories of that night. He looked at the room he was sitting in. She had been right on him being locked up; he had been confined for the past six months in a detention room at the Alliance HQ for the Sol system in London, United Kingdom. Although it had its comfort even if he was not allowed to roam freely and he wasn't allowed any means to communicate with the outside world. His escort/guard was a burly marine, Lieutenant James Vega. They had strangely connected quickly, both were marines and had seen action, they had that in common. For the first few weeks Shepard had been interrogated daily and for several hours at a time, the Alliance were ecstatic over all the new intelligence they received on Cerberus, although he did leave out his relationship with Miranda, it was none of the Alliance's concern.

Eventually the interrogations declined. Still, even though he was incarcerated, he felt glad being back with the Alliance, it was there he belonged, not with Cerberus; they had been a necessary evil during the Collector mission. And the Alliance was also more than happy that he had turned over an advanced warship as the SR-2. Technicians had poured all over it and taken it apart, studied it and put it back together.

Behind him the door opened and Lieutenant Vega stepped in and saluted, "Commander?"

Vega was dressed in a white Alliance t-shirt with his dog tags hanging out but he had no BDU-jacket to accompany his marine combat uniform trousers. Not exactly Alliance standard uniform dress code.

Shepard turned around in the chair and watched the marine. "I've told you," he snickered, "I'm not Alliance anymore; you should not call me that".

"I should not salute you either." Vega concluded with a hint of sarcasm as Shepard stood up from the chair. Vega turned professional, "The defense committee wants to see you". Vega turned around and walked out the room.

"They only waited six months." Shepard said in a dry manner and followed suit. The two officers set foot in the hallway, Shepard almost walked right into a Service Chief who ran past the door. The Chief stepped aside quickly and ran down the hallway.

"Everyone seems to be in a hurry." Shepard observed as there were more Alliance personnel half-running through the hallway. "What's happening?"

"No idea, I was just told to get you to the hearing."

Shepard saw a familiar face down the hall that was heading right towards him. It was Admiral David Anderson. The two men walked up to each other and shook hands.

Shepard gave his friend a smile, "It's good to see you, Admiral."

"You look good Shepard." Anderson greeted and the trio continued down the hallway. "But you are a little soft around the edges. How are you holding up?"

"It's good. Too much food and hot beds." He smirked as they walked through a door.

"It will be sorted out soon enough."

"Why, what's going on?" Shepard became concerned over Andersons comment. "Why is everyone so in such a hurry?" Shepard looked around as the hallway was teeming with activity.

"Admiral Hackett's mobilizing the fleets. Something big is coming our way."

Shepard stopped as they reached a flight of stairs heading up. Shepard asked, "Reapers?"

Anderson turned around with a troubled expression. "We don't know yet, but Hackett seems to think so. It could be anything."

Shepard snapped back. "Like what? Of course it is the Reapers!" He hated being right.

"We-"

Shepard cut him off, "And we're not ready for them. Fucking politics!"

Anderson could hear the anger in Shepard's voice and understood his concerns and did not reprimand him. "Tell the committee that, you're preaching for choir here, Commander." Anderson turned and began walking up the steps with Shepard in tow.

"What good will that do? We're going to bore the Reapers to death with conversation? It's just a waste of time." Shepard sighed as they reached the floor above. They walked down the hall past the wall of giant windows overlooking the city.

"No one has seen what you have seen. They're scared. They have seen you reports, the debriefings and the data. But it's all just theory."

"Theory? I was there, I lost people!" Shepard blurted out annoyed. "And all this time the only thing the Alliance have done is calling me a lunatic and done everything in their power not to listen to my warnings."

Anderson stopped and turned to face Shepard. "I know..." Anderson shook his head; he was unsure how to respond. "Honestly, after the shit you've done, they don't know what to do with you. Working with Cerberus and God knows with what kind of people, and then you blew up a star system. Any other marine would have been court-martialed and locked up behind bars for the rest of his life." He had a calm but demanding voice.

"I did what I had to! The Reapers would be here by now if I hadn't destroyed the Alpha Relay!" Shepard snapped back. "The Alliance did nothing about the colonies!"

"We all believed it was Cerberus or pirates at first. Not the first time pirates have attacked our colonies." Anderson said firmly, "And regardless, when we finally understood who was responsible, we still would not have been able to put fleets around every colonized outback planet in the traverse. It's not an excuse, but that's how it was, we were to spread out."

Anderson sighed.

Shepard shook his head. He did not want to argue with his friend and mentor who he looked up to, "We've been friends for too long to argue."

Anderson continued, "Steven and I pulled enough strings so the Alliance didn't to court-martial you. You still have allies in the Alliance."

"And your good word it seems," Shepard said amicably.

"Yes, I trust you Shepard. And frankly, grounding you was for your own good."

"For my own good?" Shepard said unbelievingly.

Anderson said sympathetically, "Sometimes, personal sacrifice is the only way to achieve a greater success."

Shepard frowned, "Don't lecture me on sacrifice; I've been fighting a long time and sacrificed more than most. I'm not even sure who I am anymore."

Anderson continued calmly, "The batarians were calling for your head, and the Council might've given it to them. Hell maybe even the Alliance would have given you up if it wasn't for Steven and me. And a court-martial would've de-railed us even further and grounding you was a way to protect you. And even if the politicians don't see it we need you to do whatever it takes to stop the Reapers. I'm taking over the SR-2 and I want you as the XO."

Shepard faintly smiled, "Like old times."

Anderson nodded, "Yeah. Come on, let's get this over with."

The trio started walking again and headed through a door to the reception outside the courtroom, they were greeted by a young female officer who informed them they were expected.

"Good luck in there, Commander." Vega said from behind Shepard.

Shepard turned around as the Admiral continued down the hallway. "Not coming?"

"No, here's where my escort ends." The two officers shook hands and exchanged words.

Lieutenant Ashley Williams walked towards the door, she had been ordered to report to the defense committee to testify once again on the events on Horizon last year when she had met Shepard and his Cerberus crew. She was confused why they wanted to talk to her; she had written a report last year as well as briefed Admirals Anderson and Hackett on the events.

She noticed the familiar stature of Anderson as he walked past the reception; she approached him and greeted the superior officer.

"Admiral-" But she stopped in mid-sentence as she suddenly saw the back of the man she once used to love standing a few meters in front of her talking to Vega.

This was the first time since Horizon that she had seen him. She knew that he had turned himself in months ago and was present at the Alliance HQ so it came as no surprise that he was here, but so many feelings and memories came over her, she did not know what to do or say. After the attack on Normandy she had begun the grieving process, but everything flared up again last year.

She deducted that Shepard was on his way to meet the committee, and it was probably because of him she had been questioned by the committee. She knew she would never have been able to evade him forever, but neither had she mentally prepared for it, probably apprehension because all the feelings she experienced at the moment.

Finally she said, "Shepard."

Shepard recognized the voice that came from behind.

_Ash._

He turned and saw her standing next to the Admiral in blue-tinted Alliance armor. He had heard about her sudden rise in ranks, she was a Lieutenant now. Seeing her again felt surreal for Shepard, they once had a connection and shared feelings, but here he was, an outcast among the Alliance and old memories appeared in his mind. His feelings for her had disappeared since last year after she had berated him for associating himself with Cerberus and then she turned to walk away from him.

After what they had been through chasing Saren, Shepard felt like he had been stabbed in the back by her when she confronted him on Horizon the year before. But he hoped that was in the past and decided to act as a professional.

Shepard greeted and gave her a friendly nod, "Ashley."

"So, what happened in there?" Anderson asked Ashley.

Ashley turned her attention to Anderson and shrugged. "They asked a bunch of questions, same as last time. I'll be waiting for new orders now."

"Well, we better head in, let's not keep them waiting, Shepard."

"Okay, sir." He walked away from Vega and joined up with Anderson and they proceeded to walk towards the chambers.

* * *

It was night in North America but the military never slept. The Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado was the home of the Air Force Space Command with the responsibilities of space- and cyberspace warfare for the North Americas. With its early warning capabilities the command could respond to any threat from space and coordinate the defenses of North America. The current commanding officer, General Marcel Basla, stepped out of the elevator and headed for the Command Center inside the main building of the giant complex. He was still drowsy after a phone call to his quarters from the watch officer, who was clearly unsettled about something. With a crew-cut and still remaining the swagger of a fighter pilot he had not yet begun to accept that his flying days were over.

He even still donned a flight jacket over his uniform despite that he had previously served as Assistant Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force. He was a career man within the Air Force, having served for 35 years and he had assumed command of Space Command a mere two months earlier and as ironic as it was he had never been in space itself, something that several high-ranking officers held against him.

_'Why command Space Command when he had never left Earth?'_

He usually ignored those comments as petty jealousy.

Basla continued down the hallway and was greeted by the watch officer, a young Lieutenant.

"Sir, we are tracking multiple objects beyond the moon." The young officer said and saluted the senior officer.

"What do we have?" Basla asked as he stepped up the biometric scanner on the wall which scanned the General's eyes and a moment later the door on his left side opened to the Command Center.

"We don't know, sir." The Lieutenant answered with a hint of apprehension in his voice. "There are hundreds of contacts coming from beyond the moon. Our satellites don't respond so we can't get a visual."

The two officers stepped into the Command Center and walked across the room which was full with computers and monitors while technicians and assistants worked in a flurry of activity. On one of the walls there were rows of large monitors, showing radar screens, live feeds from TV stations across the country and other information that was vital for daily operations at Space Command.

The General stopped and gave the Lieutenant a worried look. "Who else knows about this?"

"We have interfaced with the Alliance and they're even more confused than we are, plus they have lost contact with two military outposts."

The Lieutenant escorted Basla to a radar technician who was hunched over an early warning screen. Basla looked at the screen and saw the unknown contacts, the sophisticated target and threat recognition computers could not properly identify the contacts as friend or foe, only _UNKNOWN_, could be read in the info box.

"ETA five minutes, sir." Said the radar technician with his eyes glued to the screen.

"Maybe we should try to contact NASA and get their telescopes up in the skies?" The Lieutenant asked.

"No," Basla said. "I don't think the best thing to do is to involve a civilian organization. If we do, this will leak instantaneously. And before we know what this is I want to keep it under wraps."

Basla did not know what was happening out in the sol system, but he had a nagging feeling that it was not good. He had heard the reports of an attack on Batarian space recently by an unknown attacker. Could this be the attackers? Regardless of what it was, they were heading straight for the moon and Earth. The General turned to the young Lieutenant. "Wake up the XO and have him contact the Air Force and get aircraft in the air. I'll call the president."

"Yes, sir!" The young Lieutenant snapped to attention and marched away.

* * *

Shepard entered the court room with Anderson, and noticed an aide talking to one of the committee members, Admiral O'Neill, who turned towards the arrivals as they walked towards the elevated podium where the three committee members sat behind and made their all important decisions.

The court room was big, behind the podium was a large window with a view of the city, surrounding the courtroom was row after row with terminals, monitors. All the terminals had assistants working under stress and a few gazed upon the Commander but quickly returned to work. On his right, Shepard saw a big screen on the wall, which at the moment was shut off.

The two men stopped in middle of the room on a big Alliance emblem on the floor.

"Welcome Admiral. Commander." Admiral O'Neill said as the three members sat down. "The investigation into your…activities, Commander Shepard, is finished. We're quite concerned with your affiliation with Cerberus, a known terrorist group."

"Yeah?" countered Shepard sarcastically. "What were they when they were an Alliance clandestine unit?"

"The Alliance doesn't officially recognize Cerberus as ever being part of the Alliance. That's merely ramblings from fools with conspiracy theories grounded in fiction." O'Neill countered annoyed.

_Of course it is, _Shepard thought sardonically.

The second male Admiral - Walters - to the right of O'Neill asked, "Why did you join them?"

Shepard sighed. "You can read all about it in your transcripts."

It was apparent to Shepard that the Alliance wasn't interested in the truth, they had never listened to his warnings. All they were concerned about was finding a scapegoat so they could conveniently sweep the crisis with the batarians under the carpet. It was a witch-hunt and Shepard was the obvious target.

Walters continued sternly, "We're concerned about your dealings with them, Shepard, you have to understand that. We're asking ourselves if you are compromised in any way and if you are still connected to Cerberus."

Anderson chimed in, "I believe in Shepard and I support him. He did what was necessary, he's been fighting the Collectors and their masters for years while we - and the Council races - have sat and done nothing."

O'Neill snarled and glared at Shepard, "You blew up a star system and killed hundreds of thousands of batarians. Do you have any idea what shit storm you put us in?"

Shepard chuckled humorlessly and gestured dismissively, "I halted the Reapers. You should thank me as you've instead mustered our forces to counter the batarian threats, forces that can be used against the Reapers."

"We have no proof of that, only your words that the Reapers were halted at the edges of our galaxy."

"But they are coming now!" Shepard cried out exasperated. "Give me back my ship, and I'll join the fight."

O'Neill snorted, "You are not the bastion of light anymore, Commander. Can you even be sure it's the Reapers?"

"What else can it be?" Shepard countered angrily.

"We don't know." O'Neill said concerned. "Hackett's been mobilizing the fleets."

Walters spoke up, "Could it be the batarians? They've been threatening war ever since... well. They've got motive, anyway."

The sole female committee member spoke with an anxious tone, "We can't confirm who or what Hackett's mobilizing against. But we lost contact with all batarian systems yesterday. This morning, three of our colonies went silent."

Anderson explained to Shepard, "Each one the same; gone before they could send a distress call. Whatever this is... it's a helluva lot bigger than batarians."

Shepard explained the obvious to the committee members with a harsh voice, "The batarians don't have the ships or technology to hit our colonies without Earth receiving a single report. It's the Reapers."

The activity in the room halted momentarily as the aides sitting around their terminals gave each other worried looks. The committee members looked at each other in disbelief, neither knew what to do.

"What do we do?" The female committee member was nervous. "If it really is the Reapoers, how do we stop them?"

Shepard shook his head, he was bitter because of all the decision makers, the politicians of the galaxy may just have doomed their civilizations, and these fuckers had incarcerated him for six months and taken away his ship.

Finally Shepard said bluntly, "We can't stop them. They're more advanced and powerful then we are. We can't negotiate with them, they don't pity us and they will end all life in the galaxy as they've always done."

"That's it?" O'Neill cried out dubiously.

But before O'Neill could continue, Shepard snapped back with contempt in his voice. "Instead of sitting on your hands these past years, calling me a traitor, you should have listened to me!"

Anderson was about to intervene, this was not needed at the time. He understood why Shepard was angry, but before he could talk, an aide rose up from her terminal behind Anderson on the opposite side of the room.

The aide informed, "Admiral Anderson. We lost communications with our Luna base."

Those words hit everyone in the room hard. Anderson was shocked at the revelation. "They're already here?"

The female committee member sighed in disbelief, "How did they get past our defenses?"

The female aide had her eyes on her terminal and looked up on the officers. "We got images from Vancouver headquarters, patching through."

The eyes of everyone in the room turned to the large screen on the right as it loaded the feed. It was a grainy and distorted feed as communications were damage. A video from inside the Vancouver headquarters was shown. The image became clearer, although it was still grainy.

An Alliance solder stood in front of a camera and talked, but his voice could not be heard as the sound failed to load, an explosion was seen in the background and the shockwave tossed the soldier down on the floor. A few seconds later the signal was lost. The aide loaded up videos on the monitor from several live news feeds; the haunting images of a city on fire was seen from the air as several Reapers, 2 kilometers tall, walked between the buildings and fired their devastating weapons.

Anderson asked no one in particular, "Why haven't we heard from Hackett?"

Everyone in the room was silent as the realties hit home.

"What do we do?" O'Neill began to understand the gravity of the situation.

Shepard turned away from the monitor and walked closer to the committee members. "The only thing we can do, we fight back. I've fought the Reapers before, get me a ship and I'll do just that instead of sitting here lamenting the situation."

Anderson walked up from behind Shepard. "We should get you to the Normandy..."

As the three committee members contemplated the situation, a strange electronic and mechanical noise was heard outside the building and sent shivers down the back of those in the courtroom. The committee members stood up from their chairs and turned around and looked out the large window. It was a cloudy day and no one saw anything but the city skyline, but then the noise was heard again from above and a cuttlefish-like Reaper with its bulky body emerged from the clouds and landed near the river Thames amongst a gaggle of buildings. It opened one of its tentacle-like "legs" and revealed its spinal-mounted main-gun.

_Shit,_ went through Shepard's mind and out of his mouth he cried out, "Run!"

Shepard and Anderson turned around and ran for the entrance, but they were to slow. Most aide's did not have time to react before the Reaper opened fire on the building, the weapon's armor-piercing projectile was fired at a fraction of the speed of light and ripped through the reinforced concrete and destroyed the wall and the window. The shockwave from the projectile hurled the large podium, glass, debris and its occupants. The podium came rolling down the room and tore apart everything along its path and crashed into the wall and covered the exit.

The shockwave and the ensuing chaos of the podium had knocked down both Shepard and Anderson, Shepard's body was cast around as a rag-doll as he hit a wall and fell down on the floor.

Shepard's ears were ringing and his head felt like it was about to explode.

He blacked out.

Eventually Shepard regained his conciseness but had no idea how long he had been knocked out. He could hear a muffled voice crying out somewhere, his ears were still ringing from the explosion. Shepard rolled over and saw Anderson emerge from the burning debris.

"Shepard!" Anderson cried out and ran up to the younger officer and extended his hand to help him up. Shepard grabbed the arm and dragged himself up from the floor. "Here" Anderson handed him one of the two M3 Predator pistols he had scavenged from two dead guards. "We got to get moving."

Shepard bled from his right cheek and his entire body screamed in pain. He groaned , "The others..."

Anderson shook his head and said bluntly,"They're dead. We have to go."

The exit was blocked so the only other way was through the window and the gangway outside used by maintenance that lead to the roof. Anderson tried to reach Normandy on the radio channel.

"Normandy? This is Admiral Anderson, come in." No response, his earpiece was eerie quiet. "Williams, do you hear me?"

The earpiece came alive. _"Admiral, I hear you! What's your situation?"_

"I have no comms with Normandy. You'll have to try and raise them. We'll be moving to the landing area. Pick us up"

_"Copy that."_

The two officers stood were the window and walls once had been and felt the late summer breeze come over them.

Outside, on the other side of the Thames, a Reaper was walking around the buildings, firing its weapon. In the sky, more Reapers soared in what resembled meteors. Shepard watched the carnage unfolding, he could see Royal Air Force fighters flying above, engaging targets. Strange noises came from the Reapers as they traversed London, destroying buildings.

Anderson and Shepard jumped down the short fall to the gangway below.

* * *

General Basla watched the news feeds that they were receiving on the large monitor in horror. Earth was under attack by unknown alien forces, kilometer long machines were seen on the images, destroying everything in their path. His XO had been in contact with Pentagon a few minutes earlier and requested that the Air Force would scramble jets to defend the country.

Basla himself was on the phone with The White House and was about to talk with the President when they lost communication with Washington D.C. The technicians had scrambled to establish contact but to no avail. They tried to reach other military commands and they got through to some but one after another the cities and bases dropped off the grid. They had also lost contact with the space tracking station on Hawaii, and now they had no radar picture of Earth; they were unable to track the bogeys as they entered the atmosphere.

A technician shouted that he had been able to contact the Australian tracking station. Apparently the one in Spain was gone.

Basla walked quickly over to the technician's terminal as it loaded the feed. The upload was finished and the technician punched in a few buttons on his keyboard and every monitor in the room received the radar image.

Basla looked at the map of Earth, more machines were entering Earth's atmosphere. The largest concentration was over Europe, North America and China. But less than a minute later several enemy contacts reached Australia, and Space Command lost contact with the tracking station. Soon the communication with the outside world was severed; Space Command and Peterson Air Force Base were alone. The base commander had scrambled the jets of the four fighter squadrons stationed there, as well as one AWACS-plane that would augment the radar station on the base.

"Contact, multiple bandits, coming from the north-east, range 300 at angels 50," one of the radar technicians said behind Basla. "ETA 2 minutes."

Basla's heart beated faster.

_They're coming. Fast._

He turned around to face the technician. "How many?"

"One large contact, roughly 70 small ones." The technician did not look up from the radar screen. "Angels 45 now."

"Does AWACS know?"

"Yes."

If the news feeds was an indication of what would happen they would not have much time left. As they could not track targets from space, nor had any contact with the outside world, Space Command had reverted to their secondary objective; to assist the radar station and AWACS. They would coordinate the defenses from their underground bunker.

"God help us," Basla muttered.

* * *

At 30 000 feet, about 15 miles west of the base an AWACS aircraft circled in a left hand pattern. With several rows of radar terminals inside it was designed to track hundreds of targets, some 1000 miles away from their position. It had been one of the first Ready 5 aircraft that had taken off from the base escorted by four fighters. The radar officers were hunched down over their screens, plotting the course of the incoming enemy contacts, updating the fighters already in the air. Their training kicked in and everyone was calm and effective; train as you fight, fight as you train.

The first line of defense for the base was the 20 aircraft from the 68th Fighter Squadron. They had quickly raced out to a Combat Air Patrol point some 50 miles north of the base; the four squadrons were ordered to take up CAP points around the base with one squadron of 20 aircraft at every geographical direction. The commanding officer of the 68th had just received a communications burst from both AWACS and the ground about the incoming bandits, and on one of his multi-function displays he had the radar page selected and could see the cluster of enemy contacts, he designated one of the targets and locked it, an enemy interceptor according to AWACS. The enemy targets would be within range of his missiles in less than 20 seconds. He ordered the rest of his formation to arm their weapons and be ready to fire at will.

The two opposing forces headed towards each other at a tremendous speed, the Air Warfare Commander on the base ordered the three other squadrons to join the 68th Fighter Squadron. The 68th was soon in range with their air-to-air missiles and a volley of 20 missiles was fired in a matter of seconds. The weapons raced towards their targets and the other squadrons were soon in range as well and proceeded to launch an impressive amount of missiles at the enemy.

The majority of the missiles struck their targets but the distance had closed so much that an intense dogfight began, the pilots quickly switched to short-range missiles or their internal cannons. At longer range the Air Force pilots had a small advantage because their fast and deadly missiles, but in close range the cylinder-shaped interceptors could make turns that would kill a human pilot because of the high g-forces; regardless of advanced technologies and cybernetic implants, there was only so much a human body could take.

In a matter of seconds a dozen Air Force aircraft had been destroyed by the Reaper interceptors, the commanders on the base could only watch and listen in horror as the best human-designed aircraft were destroyed in the air, one by one they exploded and no pilot even had the chance of ejecting to safety.

The Reaper descended on the Air Base with a loud noise, the air defenses filled the night sky with streaks of anti-aircraft rounds while plumes from the rocket-engines of the surface-to-air missiles lit up the night. But the human weapons only scratched the surface of the giant starship and the Reaper began destroying buildings with its main gun, ignoring the volley of fire that the air defenses directed at it. Soon buildings were destroyed and its occupants killed. The air defenses died down, the Air Force fighters had been destroyed or fled the scene, the unarmed AWACS had been destroyed as well as it tried to flee, hunted down by Reaper interceptors.

Reaper synthetic-organic creatures were dropped from the Reaper on the base, mopping up any resistance that had survived the initial attack. The Reaper moved towards the city of Colorado Springs which was adjacent to the airbase.

The loud noise from warning horns could be heard erupting from the city, echoing through the surrounding mountains.

* * *

Glass and debris was raining down on Shepard as he jumped to cover behind a small wall and covered his head with his hands. A Reaper had opened fire at the Alliance HQ building while both he and Anderson were engaging a group of husks on a balcony. For the last five minutes the officers had traversed the roof of the building and reached an office complex. Human resources had Anderson explained earlier was the best route to take to the spaceport on the far side of the headquarters.

Shepard rose up and brushed away the debris from his body. At least the husks died at the same time.

Shepard motioned with his hand for Anderson to follow him, and the two walked into the damaged offices, the walls had caved in, and several small fires were burning inside; couches, chairs and tables had been tossed around by the shockwave. They continued through the rooms and reached a door that had malfunctioned and not closed properly and had created a gap between itself and the door frame, but the gap was not big enough for them to get through to the other side.

Shepard called out, "Help me bend this open."

Anderson gave Shepard a nod and the two men began pulling the door away from the frame in order to widen the gap. But it was easier said than done, it was heavy and the mechanical damage resisted and made it difficult to pry it open, but eventually they made an large enough gap for them to get through. Inside it was a mess; the roof had collapsed and crashed down and it had destroyed the floor and kept crashing downstairs and through a number of floors. Exposed electrical wiring and beams had dropped down to the room were Shepard and Anderson stood. Only a small piece of the floor was left extending from a wall forming a ledge. They had to get over to the other side.

"This is a goddamn mess." Anderson commented angrily.

"We have to go over." Shepard hugged the wall with his back and continued to walk slowly on the ledge, not trying to look down. It would be a long and deadly fall if he slipped. Anderson was right behind him.

"Every minute the Reapers are here, thousands of people die."

Shepard was blunt. "We can't save them all, that's the realities of war, no matter how hard we try."

"I know that, Shepard, I've been around a while, it's just eats away at me knowing innocent people are dying right now." Anderson accepted what was going on, but was angry. He was angry at the Reapers and angry at all the politicians that had dragged their heels.

_What a waste._

"You never get used to it." Shepard tried to focus on the situation, but knew what Anderson meant; he just could not dwell on it now.

"We've to get to the Citadel, talk to the Council and rally the races. That's the only way; otherwise the Reapers will destroy all we know."

Shepard hated the Council; they were all the same, regardless if it was the old Council that perished in the Battle of the Citadel or the new one. Politicians never changed. "You sure about that? That they'll help us I mean."

"No. But the war will spread to other worlds, and you were a SPECTRE, maybe you still have some pull. It has to count for something."

_Yeah, right. _Shepard thought sarcastically._ That will happen._

The two of them had gotten across the ledge and was on the other side running for a broken window which seemed to be the way out. They jumped down on the maintenance gangway below as a new Reaper descended on London, landing on the river Thames; it felt like an earth-quake this close to it.

"Williams." Anderson hailed her on the radio in a neutral voice. "We're almost at the spaceport, ETA momentarily."

_"We're on the Normandy. We're taking heavy fire. Hurry!"_ Ashley Williams was nervous. Then the communications cut.

"Williams!" Shouted Anderson but got no response.

The two officers ran as quickly as they could and rounded a corner and saw the spaceport a head of them. It was probably less than 500 meters to the spaceport but with all the destruction in front of them the space port could've been on the other side of Earth. An Alliance frigate had arrived at the spaceport, providing cover fire for the evacuation and engaged the Reaper that had landed on the Thames. The frigate opened fire with its close-range Javelin torpedoes; the dark energy in the warheads detonated on the hull of the Reaper, but to no avail as the Reaper was impervious to the frigate's fire.

The Reaper fired its main gun at the Alliance ship which was instantaneously destroyed as the ship's FTL-drive and ion-engine created an enormous energy which enveloped the frigate before it detonated, creating a powerful shockwave which knocked down both Anderson and Shepard and the platform which they stood on. The platform caved in because of the force and the two men came slid down the side of the building down on the rubble below.

Anderson and Shepard quickly rose to their feet's and began running through the rubble and destroyed walls which had previously been a small building adjacent to the large Alliance headquarters not long ago.

"Normandy, we're en route, but will take the scenic way in. How copy?"

Someone answered Anderson's call, but only static could be heard.

"Normandy, I can't hear you."

More static. The radios were probably not strong enough to send/receive from their position.

Anderson and Shepard arrived at a ledge and jumped down, below them they saw two Alliance marines in green flight suits taking cover behind a crumbled wall and deformed metallic beam. One of the marines was injured, a broken leg it seemed and his comrade tried to secure the leg with a make-shift splint of metal pieces he had picked up in the rubble, he applied medi-gel to the wound and looked up as he heard Shepard and Anderson coming up to their position.

"You two alright?" Shepard asked as he walked over to them.

"Get down!" the unwounded marine shouted and gestured. "They will see you!" He motioned with his arm behind him.

Shepard stepped up and gazed ahead of them, he did not see anything, but heard growling sounds. He crouched behind the wall. "What happened?"

The pilot explained rapidly, "We took a hit in the right engine and I had to put down the Mantis before we would lose any vital systems. The gunship is 200 meters or so on the other side of the rubble, and I dragged my gunner here. I saw some...creatures, but I don't think they saw us."

Shepard could hear the fear in the man's voice.

The growling sounds came closer. Shepard shifted his position so he could engage the targets in front of them; Anderson came up and took cover behind the wall.

The hostiles came closer and Shepard had never seen such creatures before, but he suspected that they could very well come from harvested batarians as there was some resemblance. Shepard did not bare much love for the batarians, but no one deserved such a cruel fate.

Shepard popped out of cover and fired his pistol at the closest enemy, unloading several rounds before the creatures opened fire and he disappeared behind the cover, it appeared he only managed to wound the creature. Shepard could hear from his left side that Anderson was engaging targets as well, Shepard counted three creatures. Shepard could feel bullets hitting the broken concrete wall, sending chips of concrete over his head.

"Would not have mind heavier weapons than pistols." Anderson muttered as he returned to cover and glanced at Shepard. The Admiral said, "I got one."

"Copy."

Shepard once again rose up and quickly surveyed the battlefield in front of him and shot at the previous target that fell this time. Anderson emerged and killed the last enemy with a few well-placed shots in the head. In front of them in the river, the Reaper was walking away with its backside to them. The last time Shepard had been this close to a Reaper was back in -83, and he had forgotten how big they were.

When the creatures had been killed the two officers turned to the gunship-crew.

"Thank you!" The injured marine gasped in pain.

"Do you have any sort of radio?" Anderson asked the two marines. "We need to get into contact with our ship."

"Check the wreckage, maybe one of the onboard radios in the cockpit will work." The pilot replied. "I managed to take her down pretty gently so there should not be any damage beyond the engine."

"Way over there?" Shepard asked and pointed a head of them.

"Yes! Behind that big slab of rubble you can find our Mantis."

"We will get you out of here. Stay put." Anderson stood up and gestured for Shepard to move up.

The two of them moved ahead, scanning the area in front of them from any possible enemies, but luckily they did not encounter any. Eventually Shepard and Anderson had walked past the obstacle and had arrived at the crashed Mantis gunship. The canopy was open and Shepard peered into the cockpit, it did not look as damaged as they had feared.

"Do you know how to work this?" Shepard asked.

"Yes." Anderson replied as he motioned for Shepard to move away from the cockpit. "A few months ago I visited a gunship-squadron and they gave me a tour of the thing, plus an hour in the air in the gunner's seat." He hunkered down over it and grabbed the gunner's helmet and put it on his head. Anderson began punching in a few buttons on the communication panel and connected to the open emergency radio channel.

"Normandy, this is Anderson, do you read?"

After a short moment of silence he could hear Ashley's voice over the radio._ "Admiral, we lost you before. What's your location?"_

"We're next to a downed gunship near the river. I'm activating the emergency beacon on it. Send support, we have wounded here."

_"Roger. We're inbound."_

Anderson removed the helmet and turned to Shepard. "They're on their way."

Shepard nodded and turned to survey the area, the Reaper had moved away downstream towards the spaceport and was bombarding the spaceport with its armor piercing projectiles, destroying everything and everyone there trying to evacuate. They could not see what was happening, but feared the worst when the Reaper continued down the Thames, it had probably killed everyone at the spaceport.

At the moment Shepard did not know how to react at all the carnage; adrenaline was pumping and he was still focused on getting out of London. Anderson had been right, if they did not rally the other races, they would all be dead and gone.

* * *

Joker had been forced to retreat when Williams and Vega had embarked the Normandy at the spaceport, a Reaper had came crashing down on the Thames and subsequently begun attacking all the ships at the spaceport, effectively halting the evacuation. And that did not include all the husks and other strange creatures already swarming the area.

He'd wanted to stay and fight, but Shepard and Anderson was out there, he would be of no use if they were shot down. Joker had quickly accelerated away, heading south to Dover on the coast of the English Channel. At the moment it was safe there, he kept an eye out on the LADAR screen, scanning for potential targets, but the likely scenario was that the Reapers were only attacking major cities and he saw concentrations of Reaper ships in London on his screen, but that was it at the moment.

Ashley Williams came up from behind. "Joker, I got contact with them again, they're still at the HQ, near a downed Mantis on the Thames and they have activated the emergency beacon."

Joker quickly took a look at one of the monitors and activated a display; the Joint Emergency Information Distribution System was a unified system of the Alliance that showed any and all distress beacon in the vicinity, the entire screen was full of emitters across London and its surrounding areas. To many for him to search manually, it would take too long.

"EDI, find them."

Seconds later the AI had narrowed down the search parameters and found the beacon, and updated the nav system. _"There, Mr. Moreau. Roughly 500 meters east of the spaceport. Caution, multiple Reaper ships in the vicinity."_

"No shit." Responded Joker sarcastically.

The helmsman turned the ship around and accelerated towards London, they would reach the city in a couple of minute at the current speed. Joker had to fly low and fast, keeping an eye on the LADAR screen, in order to mask their presence and avoid any Reapers. If it all went as planned, he would fly low over the Thames and hit the extraction point, it would take a great helmsman to pull that off with enemy ships nearby.

* * *

Shepard and Anderson had both dived for cover when more Reaper creatures had showed up, launched from the Reaper ships; they arrived in burning clusters and landed not far away from the crashed Mantis. With only pistols, Shepard and Anderson were outgunned and outmanned.

The strange creatures, with a weapon for a right arm, was firing at them and effectively providing cover fire while a few other creatures darted from cover to cover and was closing in on Shepard and Anderson as they bunkered down behind some rubble.

Some of the creatures were standing near the corpses of their own kind, and to Shepard it looked like they consumed the fallen, probably regenerating their health or something.

_They are devouring their own, like cannibals._

Shepard was hunched behind a wall and looked behind them on the crashed Mantis, the pilot had set it down carefully and it was pointed perfectly at the crest in front of them were the creatures were massed. He gazed on the gunship's front-mounted M350 machine guns_._

_Wonder if they still worked?_

Shepard looked at the Admiral on his right side and shouted over the gunfire, "Admiral!"

Anderson was returning fire and shouted back, "What?" He had trouble hearing Shepard's voice over the gunfire.

"Do you think the machine guns still works?"

Anderson went down on his knees next to Shepard and gave him a confused look. "What machine guns?"

Shepard tilted his head towards the Mantis behind them. "I mean, we won't come very far with these things." Shepard motioned with his pistol in hand.

Anderson gave the protégé a smirk. "Give me cover fire and I'll give it a try. When I'm in it move aside, I don't want to shoot at you."

Shepard nodded and rose from cover and fired his gun towards the enemies, he was unsure how many there were, but he had counted eight, and three of them had advanced half way towards their position. Several of his rounds hit one of the creatures who in return staggered from the kinetic energy of the rounds. Shepard soon ducked to cover again as the enemies returned fire.

Behind him, Anderson ran the 20 meters or so to the crashed Mantis. He reached the aircraft and jumped into the front cockpit which was the gunner's seat. He tried to remember what the Operations Chief had told him about the weapons systems months ago, but it was hard to remember everything. He had never fired any weapons during the tour, but he had done so in a simulator.

Anderson put the helmet over his head, the helmet projected a holographic Heads up Display on the visor, it was linked to the directional movement of the machine guns, a gunner could cover 180 degrees in front of him and wherever the gunner put the crosshairs, there the rounds from the machine-gun would hit.

Shepard turned his head towards the gunship and through the broken Plexiglas of the cockpit he could see Anderson with a flight helmet on him. Anderson nodded at Shepard and gave him thumbs up. Shepard tried to keep his profile as low as possible and ran away from his cover, he moved to the side of the gunship and bunkered down behind cover.

Anderson found the Master Arm switch and with the press of his index finger, the weapon was hot and ready to fire. He looked out the cockpit and saw Shepard taking cover on his right behind some rubble while the creatures were shooting at him. Anderson grabbed the fire-control stick on his right side and looked at the enemy forces in front of him and pressed the trigger. The weapon spooled up and began shooting, apparently only one barrel was functional as he received a Master Caution error on his HUD, but that did not matter, as one barrel was enough.

Anderson moved his head slowly and systematically right and left over the targets as the high-velocity rounds ripped apart the Reaper creatures, it was a gruesome scene as synthetic-organic body parts flew through the air as they were blown of the creature's bodies. Eventually Anderson removed his finger from the trigger and surveyed the area.

As far as he could see, all targets were down.

Shepard walked up to the cockpit with a grin. "Good shooting, Tex."

Anderson gave Shepard a nod and took of the helmet.

The radio came alive. _"The cavalry is here gentlemen, we have eyes on you."_ It was Joker and the Normandy.

Shepard spun around trying to find the ship but could only hear the engines but it soon came up from behind them and descended down over the rubble. It was a welcomed sight.

Anderson jumped out of the cockpit and the two of them began running towards the ship as it had came to an halt over the river near a high point of the rubble. The cargo port opened and Ashley and Vega took up defensive positions on the ramp as they covered Shepard and Anderson with their M8 Avengers. Shepard stopped at ramp and turned around only to see Anderson stopping outside the Normandy.

Shepard gave his friend a surprised look. "What are you doing?" Shepard had to shout due to the engine noise.

Suddenly several Kodiak transport shuttles swarmed the area, the search and rescue party for the downed gunship crew had arrived.

"I'm staying. There are probably no military leaders left; I'm likely the only one left, at least here. These people need an experienced leader to run the resistance." He was as calmed and collected as always.

"Like hell you are, we need to get to the Council, we're in this together!"

"Exactly, without help this is war is already lost. You have to convince the Council to help us."

Shepard shrugged. "You know how they are. What if they don't listen?"

"Then make them listen. Get out of here, that's an order."

"I'm not Alliance, you can't give me orders." Shepard responded defiantly.

Anderson reached down into his trousers right pocket and pulled out a set of dog tags.

Anderson grinned, "Then you are reinstated...Commander."

Anderson tossed the dog tags to Shepard who caught them with his left hand. Shepard looked at them; so many memories of his military life came alive, of all those he had lost under his command, and all those dangerous missions he had undertaken. Shepard grasped the dog tags and looked at Anderson.

"I'll be back, and I'll bring every fleet I can. Good luck."

"You too Shepard."

Shepard saluted the Admiral who waved back and then turned around and started to run towards the Kodiak shuttles behind him. Shepard turned towards Ashley and gave her a grim look of anger and sadness.

"Joker, let's get out of here." Ashley transmitted into her radio.

_"Roger that."_

The trio turned around and walked into the cargo bay as the ramp slowly closed. The Normandy started to turn around and flew away from the city.

* * *

**_Who know, I might continue the story past this chapter ;)_**

**_I moved the events from Canada to the UK instead, I just felt that it could be problematic for Anderson to travel too London while the Reapers have air superiority over Earth._**

**_Anyway, I can't say I'm on the same level as some of really great writers here, but I'll try my best . _**

**_Edited (6/11/2012): Found some grammar errors and such, have fixed those._**

**_Edited (6/26/2012): Added a line about NASA in the first part of the Space Command story, plus I removed that Shepard was a SPECTRE._**

**_Edited (9/30/2012): Thanks to reader "torexile" that pointed out a vast amount of grammatical errors throughout the story that are being changed._**

**_Edited (3/22/2013): Made some overhaul of grammar but mostly changed structure of the chapter. Will start going over the first 10-15 chapters in the coming months as they appear dicey. But that is not a priority at the moment as I'm focusing on new chapters. _**

**_Edited (4/01/2013):Additional minor changes. I have also downgraded Ashley's rank to Lieutenant. How she turned Lieutenant Commander in such a short span of time is rather strange. I've always thought that. I'll make changes to when her rank is mentioned throughout the story but that will take a while. Her rank will be explained at one point in the future._**

**_Edited 05/22/13: Added additional writing to the hearing to reflect the leaked script._**


	3. Who Dares Wins

For Major Alan Coats, aliens and space had never appealed to him. He had never left Earth, not even visiting the Moon or Mars. And the only alien he had ever met for an extended period of time was a turian officer that had been with the unit as part of a one year officer exchange program back in -84 and turian was a good enough soldier, very professional. But beyond that, Coats had only passed by a handful of the few aliens that actually lived on Earth or seen aliens on television or the extranet.

Coats had served his entire adult life in her majesty's army, first with the 16th Air Assault Brigade, and when he had turned 25 he had gone through Special Forces Selection and had now served twelve years with the 22nd SAS as an officer after completing officer school at Sandhurst. He had just been assigned as the Sabre Squadron's Executive Officer, and now he feared that the prestigious Sabre Squadron could be annihilated, maybe even the entire Regiment.

When the large ships had descended upon United Kingdom, the Sabre Squadron of the 22nd SAS at Hereford had been preparing for another day of military drills; they had been two weeks away from deploying to Africa. The base had received a warning order to deploy to London as soon as possible to combat the unknown invaders. Some thought they were turians, attacking Earth in order to avenge the First Contact War, others believed they were geth as the ships resembled the one that attacked the Citadel three years earlier. Regardless of whom they were, they needed to be repelled.

Sabre Squadron's objective was to secure the royal family and escort them out of London to a secret underground facility. They had flown in on Kodiak shuttles escorted by Mantis gunships and landed at Buckingham Palace. The royal family's own security were about to escort the family members to the waiting evacuation shuttles when one of the large cuttlefish-like ships had turned up and attacked Buckingham Palace, effectively destroying the prestigious palace in one attack, killing everyone inside. It then proceeded to attack the shuttles and gunships as they tried to escape. In one attack, almost the entire force had been destroyed. The shuttle that Coats and several other soldiers were in had lifted from the ground quickly and accelerated away from the large ship to avoid the attack. The pilot flew low and fast above the rooftops.

They got away from the ship scott free, but their luck did not last very long. A strange cylinder shaped device turned up behind them and opened fire, destroying the engine of the shuttle with one shot and after the attack the enemy quickly disappeared. Warning lights flickered on and a Master Caution alarm sounded through the shuttle.

The pilot and co-pilot felt the jolt of the hit, the shuttle started to vibrate violently; they lost the two backward main thrusters as well as the oil pressure. The Kodiak was designed to function with two thrusters for a short time, but the pilot felt something was terribly wrong. The pilot tried to compensate but when the shuttle started to spin, the pilot knew they were in trouble.

The emergency procedure for such an event kicked in and the pilot tried to regain the shuttle from its spin; as the Kodiak spun to the left, he pushed down the right rudder pedal to compensate, but it was still spinning to the left. If they had been higher up he would have tried to push down the nose as the aircraft would have regained level flight in a slow dive and then he would have throttled up, but they were too low. The only thing he could do was to try and slow down the shuttle before the crash.

The pilot opened up the emergency radio channel as he tried to control the violent descent; he spoke with a calm and collected voice. "Super 6-1 is hit, we're going down."

The co-pilot turned to the sniper team, "Hold on, and get down!"

The pilot's seats were designed to absorb the shock of a crash, but not the seating in the back, and the snipers were standing up unprotected. They tried to go down on the cold floor and spread out their bodies in order to spread the impact across their bodies, but the five SAS soldiers in the back were violently thrown around in the small space of the Kodiak, one soldier had no helmet on and hit the roof of the shuttle and screamed in agony as blood gushed from his wound.

The shuttle hit the ground with a tremendous force, nose first into a building.

* * *

Coats regained consciousness, his body ached and his head was beating with pain. He probably had a concussion, and he had also broken his tibia. He could stand up and walked a bit inside the shuttle but the pain was excruciating, he had probably only fractured the tibia if he still could walk, if only barely. He reached for a medi-gel injector from one of his pouches on his armor and quickly injected the content in his leg, the anesthetic salve began to close up the wound and the pain slowly faded a bit.

He had been knocked out after the crash but did not know for how long. On the floor of the shuttle laid the bodies of his four comrades. Coats had been close to three of them, having fought with them on three continents and in five countries, it was only the youngest that he had not known very well, a twenty-something that had finished Special Forces selection less than a month earlier.

The kid were still breathing after the crash, but had severe injuries; Coats omni-tool scan revealed collapsed lungs and a ruptured spleen. Coats had tried his best to ease the pain with medi-gel, but even with the medical salve in his body, the young soldier was still in pain. His stomach had filled up with blood and eventually he passed out, slowly fading away. Losing people under his command was nothing new, but it was never easy.

The shuttle had crashed into a brick building, the nose had caved in and the force of the impact combined with the buildings structure had killed the pilots. Coats staggered out of the shuttle after he had grabbed a M15 Vindicator and a M6 Carnifex that would complement his M29 Incisor. He had collapsed and holstered the assault rifle and the hand gun, but carried his M29 on him.

As the Major had been born in London he knew the city well and could quickly orient himself. He stood on Birdcage Walk in Westminster. A kilometer or so behind him was the remains of Buckingham Palace. The street was eerie quiet, but he could hear strange mechanical noises, gunfire and explosions from around the city. The sky was filled with anti-aircraft fire and missiles targeting the large machines and he heard gunships and aircraft flying above, attacking targets.

In front of him he saw a man running with a small child in his arms, probably his daughter; she could not have been older than ten. Coats could see tears in the child's eyes, she cried uncontrollably and the father tried his best to comfort her. The man with his daughter on his chest rushed past Coats, no words were said.

_I guess it's everyone for them self now._

Coats turned his attention away from the father and his daughter. A couple of hundred meters in front of him was the Palace of Westminster, the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament. Part of the structure was the Clock Tower, the iconic landmark of London. As a sniper, Coats was well aware of the possibilities the tower would give a well trained marksman. And it would be a better and safer spot then being on the ground.

The Normandy pushed through the atmosphere, leaving Earth in its wake. As the ship entered low Earth orbit, destroyed warships and space stations were left behind as the initial Reaper force had pushed through the defenses to descend on the garden world. Joker held a steady course far away from any fallen warships or the incoming Reapers. Although he had engaged the ship's stealth system, he was still wary of the Reapers. The Low Earth orbit was full of space debris from "bootstrap" space development and Normandy's kinetic barriers were deflecting any small debris out in the cold vacuum of space and the FOD radar was tracking every object that came within range.

* * *

In the cargo hold of the Normandy, Shepard was walking with Vega in tow. Standing at the weapons bench was Ashley who was readying their weapons and armor, confirming that the weapons were functional.

"Why did the Admiral stay back on Earth? Are we going back? What the hell's your plan?" Vega was agitated and confused. His home world was burning and now they were leaving? Everything he had heard about Shepard, everything the two of them had talked about was contradicting with what Shepard was doing right now.

"We can't do anything now, Lieutenant. We're leaving." Shepard did not look back at Vega, he continued towards the Ashley.

"We're just gonna leave Earth?" Shepard's words had hit Vega in the stomach; he could not believe what Shepard was saying.

Shepard turned around to face the marine and asked bothered. "Do you have any other plan? What do you think the three of us and one ship can do?"

Ashley felt the tension rise between her former lover and the young marine. She did not like what was happening, it looked like Vega was about to snap. "What's on your mind, Commander?" She tried to defuse the situation, turning their attention to her instead.

"Anderson wants us to head to the Citadel, rally the other races." Shepard turned his head to Ashley. He noticed that she'd changed over the past years, she had let her dark hair grow longer, she had the confidence of an officer now, and she was as cool now as she was under fire.

"That's bull, sir! He would not order us to leave Earth now!" Vega stepped right into the Commander's personal zone; he was mere inches away from Shepard who turned his attention to Vega who was fuming with anger. "You're not even Alliance anymore, you said so yourself!"

Shepard was calm, but his eyes told the young Lieutenant to step away, but Vega did not flinch. "Well, he just ordered me to head to the Citadel, _Lieutenant."_

"The Council is inept, they can't do anything!" Vega argued.

"Without help, this war is already over." Shepard tried to resolve this situation as diplomatically he could. He shared the same views on the Council as the Lieutenant was displaying, but he saw reason in Anderson's earlier arguing.

"Screw that, drop me off somewhere, because I'm not leaving Earth!" Demanded Vega.

"That's it, Lieutenant, back off!" Shepard growled angrily. "We can't do anything if we don't rally the other races! I thought you were an officer, use your goddamn head!" Shepard closed the gap between them and pointed at Vega threateningly. "Without allies we're fucked!"

Vega glared at Shepard, clenching his fists. Trying his best to calm down. So many different emotions were rushing through him. He was angry at the Reapers, he was angry at Shepard for his inept actions and he was angry at himself for being so disrespectful to Shepard.

Shepard took a step back from Vega; he spoke with a calm but firm voice. "I'm reinstated, I give the orders here. We're going to the Citadel. You want out? You can catch a ride from there."

"Everyone just take a deep breath and calm down." Ashley said and the two officers turned to watch her. "The enemy is the Reapers, out there." She pointed towards the cargo port.

"She's right, Lieutenant." Shepard turned to Vega, who just shook his head at Shepard and waved him off and turned away.

_"Commander?"_ It was Joker's voice over the speakers.

"Good to hear your voice."

_"Yeah, I'm alive and kicking. Someone got to get your ass out of the fire, you know. We have an emergency transmission from Admiral Hackett."_

Shepard had stepped over to a computer console on a workstation. "Patch it through."

The monitor flickered to life as a distorted video feed of Admiral Hackett showed up on the monitor. Ashley took up position next to Shepard, as did Vega.

_"Shepard...we've sustained heavy casualties."_ Both the video and voice feed was garbled._"...force was overwhelming…there's no way we can defeat them conventionally."_

"Anderson's have ordered me to the Citadel, to speak with the Council." Shepard explained.

_"No, I need you to...iance outpost on Mars first; we've lost contact with it."_

"Yes sir."

_"...been researching the Prothean Archives with Dr. T¨'Soni...found a way to stop the Reapers, the only way."_

_Liara? She's on Mars? They must have found something important if she's here. _"We're on it, Admiral." Shepard saluted the superior officer on the monitor.

_"...be in contact with you soon, Hackett out." The Admiral severed the connection and the monitor turned black._

"Joker, set a course for the Mars Archives." ordered Shepard.

_"Ehh, okay, Mars it is. ETA 8 minutes."_

Shepard turned around to the two other officers. "Either of you know how to pilot the shuttle?"

Vega nodded. "Yes."

"Let's get ready then." Shepard passed by Ashley and Vega and walked towards the bench with weapons and armor.

"This is loco!" Vega exclaimed in disbelief.

"Why Mars, what could you possibly think we would find there?" Ashley asked, looking at Shepard's back as he was readying his weapons and armor.

"I don't know. But if it helps us win the war, we must go there, plus Liara could be in trouble."

* * *

Less than eight minutes later the Normandy dropped out FTL in orbit around Mars. The cargo bay opened and the Kodiak shuttle slipped out and headed for the surface. Inside, Vega sat in the pilot seat and piloted the shuttle towards Mars and the Prothean Archives, while in the back Ashley sat in the passenger seat while Shepard walked into the cockpit.

"Joker, have you been able to raise them?" Shepard asked as he looked on the holographic projection of the red planet in front of them.

Joker's voice came from the speakers. _"Negative, Commander. I've tried but no one is answering."_

"Any Reaper activity?"

_"None."_

_That will probably not last for long._ "EDI, you got anything?"

The AI responded with its calm synthesized voice._ "Commander, the base appears to be offline, maybe they've been evacuated?"_

Shepard sighed as he turned around and walked out of the cockpit and took a seat in the passenger compartment, in front of him Ashley sat in silence.

Shepard said, "We will know soon enough. Joker, engage stealth systems and be ready to either pick us up or support us if it all goes to hell."

_"Commander, I rather not engage a Reaper."_

"What, you scared?" Shepard answered glibly. "We still have the Thanix cannon right?"

_"Yes, we do but-"_

"Then you'll probably be able to knock out _one_ Reaper at least." Shepard joked.

Joker said sarcastically, _"Oh, joy, life expectancy have been upped by ten seconds. Joker out."_

"We're in atmosphere." Vega reported from the cockpit.

Shepard smiled at Joker's and his banter. He then looked at Ashley curiously. "You're awfully quiet, Ash."

She tried to give Shepard a little smile of assurance that everything was fine, but failed. "Well, I'm just curious what we will find on Mars of all places."

Shepard mentally noted that something was wrong, but only nodded to her as a response.

* * *

The shuttle descended on the red planet and flew towards the Prothean Archives, a circular research base, connected by tramway to other sections of the base as well as populated areas on Mars. The Prothean Archives main feature was its tall tower-like structure, the archive itself.

Vega landed on the outskirts of the base, a few hundred meters from the main entrance. He fired the Kodiak's miniature thrusters and hovered slightly as the shuttle took ground on a plateau. A few kilometers or so away, a massive sand storm was moving towards the large complex.

Ashley had stood up the moment the shuttle had landed and had reached for her helmet, Shepard did the same. Through her helmet she glanced at Shepard who stood in front of the door. She was conflicted about him; one side of her wondered where his allegiances were, if he still sided with Cerberus. The other side was grateful that he had returned to the Alliance and was fighting the good fight.

Vega walked out of the cockpit as Ashley and Shepard geared up with helmets on. "A massive storm is inbound, and I have yet to establish comms with the base." He put on his helmet and watched Shepard standing close to the door.

Shepard turned to Vega and spoke into the radio, "When will it hit us?"

"Half an hour, tops. After that we will have zero visibility and virtually no comms with Normandy."

"Great." Responded Shepard sarcastically as he hit the door control.

The door slowly opened and the three marines walked out. Outside they had a better view of the circular complex; the surrounding area was dotted with several smaller support buildings and satellite dishes. The trio continued down a path that led to a larger road which would lead them to the main entrance further down the valley.

Vega observed the massive sandstorm that slowly approached the complex. "Christ, it's huge!"

"C'mon, Lieutenant, it's not that bad." Ashley said teasingly.

Vega was in awe of the sand storm and its dangers. "That does not mean it can't kill us."

"I'm more concerned of the slaughter on Earth, or that no one responds at this base when we try to hail them on the radio."

"Ash is right," Shepard said deep in thought, he stopped and observed the complex and its large tower. ""I don't like this at all, keep your head on a swivel and let's only use the radios."

"You think the Reapers are here?" Ashley asked with a hint of concern in her voice.

"Joker said not, but I have no idea. But there's something wrong."

The trio continued onwards and soon arrived at the end of the path that connected to the main road. Shepard was on point and saw something strange on the road. He had spotted a truck that effectively blocked the road, and three corpses lied next to the truck, with their hands tied to their backs.

_"Fuck!"_ Spat Vega out as he saw the dead, it looked like three guards from the facility. He pulled out his assault rifle from his back, Ashley did the same, and they began scanning their surroundings.

Shepard kneeled down next to the corpses; he reached down and slowly turned the head of one of the guards so he could see properly.

"Their faceplates have been smashed." Shepard returned the dead man's head to its previous location and stood up.

"Oh, God." Ashley shook her head in pity. _Who would do something inhuman as that to anyone?_

* * *

Further down the slope sat Liu Huang on his knees with his hands behind his back and trembled. The 45-year old hailed from Hong Kong and was one of several xenoarcheologists on the facility that had been transferred from Earth in the past months after the Alliance had begun further excavation of the prothean ruins on Mars. He was surrounded by six heavily armed troopers in white heavy armor with a strange yellow logo on, their voice modules made their voices sound strangely synthesized, imposing voices that scarred Huang. The closest gunman, armed with an assault rifle, had just executed two of his friends.

The three of them and three guards had arrived earlier in a truck further up the road when the gunmen had stopped their vehicle and dragged them out. Huang and his co-workers were supposed to ferry additional equipment and super computers to the main facility from the spaceport in order to catalogue and translate the latest findings. Under Dr. Liara T'Soni, they had found references to some kind of prothean weapon of mass destruction, and the arrival of the Cray supercomputers would make it easier, and faster, to deduct the blueprints. Through the corner of his eye, he saw the gunman walking towards him.

When Shepard had knelt down at the bodies Vega had walked away a bit from Shepard and Ashley to recon the area. He had position himself behind a large rock near the road when he saw activity down the slope below them. He was observing a group of troopers from cover, they had gathered around a kneeling man.

* * *

_What the hell? Are those guys security?_

He could not see properly because several Martian rocks dotted the road, but one of the troopers was now in front of the kneeling man and suddenly raised his assault rifle and shot the man in the head.

"Holy shit! They're executing them!"

Shepard ran up to Vega with Ashley behind him. He instantaneously recognized the logo on the trooper's arms.

_Cerberus. What the hell are they doing here, and why are they executing civilians? _

But it did not matter for Shepard, they were killing civilians, and Cerberus were likely behind the communications black out, they were enemies and needed to be dealt with.

_Liara is in danger_.

"Engage them!" Shepard ordered and he quickly equipped his M8 assault rifle.

Vega aimed his rifle at the Cerberus troops and opened fire at the closest enemy which was 30 meters in front of them. The target had his back at Shepard and his squad, and the high-velocity rounds ripped through the Cerberus trooper's armor and he fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

Shepard had left Vega and Ashley and was running towards another large rock and slid behind it, his two comrades were now engaging the enemies down the slope, giving Shepard covering fire. He heard the Cerberus troopers open fire at them and the rounds hit the Martian rock he was behind. He popped out of cover and opened fire at the troopers.

The five surviving Cerberus troopers quickly ran for cover behind a personnel transport rover and some rocks. Vega readied a grenade he plucked from one of his pouches and tossed it down range. It landed next to a large slab of rock which two Cerberus troopers had taken cover behind. The powerful grenade detonated and quickly killed the closest trooper; the other trooper was knocked away from the cover and fell to the ground by the shockwave and the shrapnel. The trooper was visible to Shepard now and he quickly shot the trooper who lied helpless on the ground. The other troopers were behind the rover.

"Vega, Ashley, surprising fire, I'll race down to the closest rock in front of me."

"Copy, sir." Responded Vega swiftly and the two marines began shooting in controlled bursts as Shepard rose up from his rock.

Shepard fired a few rounds from his assault rifle so the troopers would not rise from cover and engage him. He knelt down behind the rock with a grenade in hand and threw it perfectly behind the rover. He could hear as the two troopers screamed in dismay.

Ashley and Vega started shooting again as they saw one of the troopers that tried to run away from the grenade, he fell to their rounds as his comrade was killed by the grenade behind the rover.

"Clear!" Shepard called out, he started to walk down the slope and stopped near the fallen enemies and the murdered civilians.

"Who were those guys?" Vega asked as he walked down the road and stopped at Shepard's side.

"Cerberus." Shepard responded in a low voice.

Ashley was next to Shepard as well, and looked suspiciously on him, "What are they doing on Mars?"

"Don't know, probably something to do with the Prothean Archives."

"You don't know?"

Shepard let out a bit of anger in his voice. "I'm not with Cerberus anymore, if that's what you're asking."

Ashley turned defensive, "I was not saying that! But it's more than a little convenient that they're here, don't you think?"

"I don't know why they're here." Shepard now understood why Ashley had been so quiet during the shuttle ride down to Mars; she still thought of him as part of Cerberus, she still did not trust him. She had not let go of their encounter on Horizon last year.

Shepard left it at that and lead the squad as they continued down the road to the entrance and saw several rovers parked with the Cerberus logo on side of the vehicles. They cleared the immediate area, just in case, but there were no enemies present.

"It looks like they did not come in force." Vega noted as they walked toward entrance.

"Yeah, a handful of vehicles, but be ready just in case."

"They probably had help from the inside; you would need more men and firepower to take down this place otherwise." Commented Ashley grimly.

Shepard agreed."Yeah, seems likely."

* * *

The three marines walked up on the ramp leading to a vehicle service lift which would take them up to the main facility. Ashley stood in the back and observed Shepard as he activated the controls of the elevator and shortly it slowly began its ascension towards the upper level. She holstered her rifle and walked up to Shepard with determination in her eyes. She needed answers from him; he had just left Earth for Mars and now a squad of Cerberus operatives were running around and gunning down civilians. This was not right. Last year she had encountered him on Horizon and then he had been with Cerberus, he had turned his back on the Alliance. That did not sit right with her.

"I need a straight answer from you, Shepard." Ashley demanded.

Shepard turned around from the elevator controls and asked coolly, "About what?" On the inside he was defensive, the last thing he needed now was being questioned about his motives and allegiances.

Ashley snapped. "Do you know anything about this? What's Cerberus doing here executing people?"

Shepard remained calm. "And why would I know anything about this, Ash."

"Don't 'Ash' me!" She cried out in contempt. "You worked for them for the major part of last year! How do I know that you cut all ties?" She began pacing angrily around on the platform, watching Shepard's reaction.

"It was an evil necessity." He argued calmly. "The Alliance, and the Council, did _nothing_. Cerberus saw the threat, believed in me and I joined forces with them to stop the Collectors. That's it."

"They brought you back to life, handed you a new ship and resources..." She stopped and looked away, unable to face him. She condemned herself for not trusting him, but he had allied himself with Cerberus, he had accepted to work with them and she could not get that out of her head.

_He had betrayed the Alliance. He had betrayed her._

"I have not had contact with them since we destroyed the Collector base, and I can only speculate why they're here."

For the first time since they began arguing, Vega voiced his opinion, "The Commander was under surveillance 24/7, there's no way he would have been able to communicate with Cerberus."

Ashley relented and looked down in shame. "John, I'm sorry. It's just..."

The elevator arrived at its destination and the elevator shaft was pressurized.

"After everything we've been through, chasing Saren and battling Sovereign, I should not have to explain myself to you Ash." Shepard felt betrayed again, just as she had on Horizon last year.

The roof opened to reveal a large hall; it was the vehicle embarkation area, were the facility's vehicles were parked inside. The three marines left the elevator and walked onwards.

"Just...trust me." Shepard tried to convince her, but he was unsure if he would get through to her. If she had decided that he was a traitor, it would not be the easiest to convince her otherwise.

"I'm, but-" Ashley began to explain but was suddenly interrupted by muffled gunfire that broke the silence; the trio took cover behind one of the Mars rovers and readied their weapons.

More muffled gunfire could be heard, Shepard quickly located the origin of the commotion; it came from the ventilation pipes in the ceiling, they could also hear the sounds of people crawling through them. Shepard cautiously looked around the side of the vehicle and up the ceiling. After a few moments the ventilation duct was kicked out and the familiar stature of Liara T'Soni jumped down on the floor below her.

She ran to create some distance between herself and her pursuers, two Cerberus troopers that began to crawl out of the ventilation pipe. Liara turned around to face them and let loose a singularity that caught the two troopers in its gravitational radius and left them floating helpless in the air, she than fired away a warp that detonated the singularity, instantaneously killing the troopers.

Shepard rose from behind the vehicle and holstered his assault rifle and walked towards Liara, Vega came up next to him with his rifle aimed at Liara.

"Easy there, Lieutenant, she's with us." Shepard said through his voice module and motioned with his arm so that Vega stopped aiming his weapon at the asari.

Liara turned around to the familiar voice. "Shepard! Thank the Goddess that you are alive." Liara gave him a friendly smile but turned glum quickly as she looked back and forth from one person to another and the reality of the situation dawned upon her. "I'm sorry about Earth."

"Yeah, it was difficult to leave." Ashley told her, as she walked up from behind Shepard.

"I'm sorry, Ashley." The asari told her and shook her head in sorrow. "But why are you here?"

"Admiral Hackett ordered us, said you had found something of importance." Shepard explained to Liara.

Liara nodded and motioned that they should follow her as she turned around and walked towards a large window overlooking the base. "He's right."

"Hallelujah, finally some answers." Vega enthusiastically told the crowd as they followed Liara.

Liara was not as optimistic as the Lieutenant. "Maybe. I've discovered the blue prints to a prothean weapon, something that can wipe out the Reapers." She turned to face the humans when she reached the window.

"What? Here on Mars?" A confused Shepard asked.

She nodded and looked out the window to one of the adjacent complexes. "Yes, in the Prothean Archives."

"We just learned this now? We've known about these archives for decades." Shepard was still not buying the premise of this revelation.

"Process of elimination with a mix of desperation. You bought us time when you destroyed the Alpha Relay, but when you were under investigation Hackett knew something had to be done, and so did I. He contacted me and asked if I could use my resources as the Shadow Broker to find a way to stop the Reapers."

"Wait!" Ashley interrupted Liara; she could not believe what she was hearing. "I know all this is important, but _you're_ the Shadow Broker?"

Liara gave her old team mate an enigmatic smile. "Yes."

"Holy shit!" Blurted Vega out and watched Liara, he was as stunned as Ashley.

"You knew?" A surprised Ashley directed that question at Shepard.

"Yes." Shepard told her. "I helped her."

"How did this happen? When?"

"I'll tell you all about it when we get out of here." Liara told Ashley. This was not the time for storytelling, and she quickly changed subject. "All my research led me here, and Hackett gave me clearance to access the archives."

Liara suddenly stop talking for a few moments to collect her thoughts and a guilt stricken Liara told Shepard, "I meant to visit you, but..."

"It's alright, Liara." Shepard assured her with a smile. "You had your hands full."

"You're too kind." Liara answered. She continued her quick debrief of the situation. "Anyway, my work paid off; there is an overwhelming amount of data in the archives. I might have found what we need."

Shepard was still not sure about all the information Liara had told him. It was too good to be true. "I guess I'll believe it when I see it. Where is the weapon?"

"It's not a weapon...yet. It's plans for some device."

"It's better than nothing. Where can we find it?"

Liara pointed at a complex on the other side of the chasm. "The archives are just across the tramway.

Shepard looked out the window at the tramway. The Cerberus problem still lingered, they were not out of the woodwork yet. "Assuming that Cerberus has not locked it down. What are they after?"

"They want what we're all after, what's in this base. The blue prints." Liara told him.

"Because?"

"The protheans came close to defeat the Reapers, they had the plans, but they ran out of time."

"Anything that can destroy the Reapers is just what Cerberus is interested in." Ashley concluded.

Shepard nodded. "We better hurry then."

A sudden muffled explosion was heard from the second floor, drawing their attention away from the window and the Prothean Archives. Shepard moved quickly across the floor to get a better view, the door above them had been blown apart and the sound of a smoke grenade releasing its contents could be heard, the Cerberus troopers were trying to bend open the doors to give them access to the gangway, the smoke covered them, giving Shepard and his squad a few valuable seconds.

Shepard called out, "We got company. Take up defensive positions."

His comrades did as he ordered, taking up positions behind metal crates and a rover, equipping their weapons and aiming at the gangway above.

"Liara." Shepard said and moved to cover behind a crate and readied his assault rifle, "I need you to draw them out of cover with your biotics."

Liara nodded from behind a metal crate. They could not see through the smoke, but the sound of footsteps on the metallic floor gave them an idea what was about to happen, the Cerberus squad had succeeded in their attempts to get through the sliding doors.

_"There's the asari bitch!" _One of the Cerberus troopers shouted, most likely the squad leader as he led the squad to take cover behind the gangway's metal-covered handrail.

The squad of four troopers opened fire down the hall. Shepard returned the fire while Liara fired a singularity towards the upper floor, catching two troopers as they floated helpless screaming for help. Ashley and Vega fired each a concussion grenade from their rifles that knocked down the two troopers with a tremendous force.

Not knowing if the opponents were dead or not, no one left cover for more than a few seconds as they shot at the troopers above. One of the troopers dared to break cover and tossed a hand grenade down range, but Liara saw this and reacted quickly; she fired of a biotic push and propelled the grenade back at its previous owner as it detonated above the heads of the Cerberus troopers.

As the seconds ticked by, there was a lull in the combat, Shepard slowly looked up from cover, although he could not see through the handrail's metallic cover, he figured the assault troopers were probably dead and took a step away from his cover.

"Did we get them?" Vega asked as he watched Shepard.

"Maybe." Shepard told Vega thoughtful. "The grenade could have done the trick. Ash, Liara, keep an eye out."

"Roger." - "Of course, Shepard."

Shepard turned to Vega. "I need you to get to the shuttle."

Vega looked at Shepard, annoyed at the order. "What..hell no! I'm not bugging out!"

"Yes you are, if that storm hits us, we're not gonna be able to find our way back the shuttle. How do you think we will get back to Normandy?" Shepard explained. "And you can bet that there will be landing Reapers here any moment soon, plus if we get to the archives and shit hits the fan, we will need Close Air against Cerberus forces."

Vega was about to argue with Shepard but was quickly interrupted by the Commander. "I'm not asking. Go."

Vega mumbled something under his breath as he made his way to the elevator, Shepard walked over to the control panel and when Vega was ready, he sent away the elevator.

Shepard made a mental note to talk to the Lieutenant in the near future, they had been at each other throats for some time now, of course emotions were running high with the attack on Earth, but in-squad fighting was the last he needed. He also needed to speak with Williams, clearing the air and try to fix whatever unresolved issues they had regarding trust and allegiances.

Shepard turned to Ashley and Liara after the floor had closed above the vehicle elevator, "Let's find a way out of here, Liara, you know this place best so you are on point."

"As you wish."

"And Liara, good work with the grenade." Shepard told her with a smile, who in return beamed with pride at the praise from him.

* * *

**_Major Coats is of course the British sniper in Big Ben from the first teaser trailer. I was unsure of his first name, so I went with Alan. Also, I took some creative liberties because he's most likely an Alliance marine, but I went ahead and changed his military unit to the SAS instead, just so I could use their motto as the name for the chapter, and I felt I wanted yet another perspective from someone that does not know what the Reapers are. At the moment I'm unsure how much time we will spend with Coats, but I think I will add at least a little more in a later chapter._**

**_The call sign Super 6-1 is lifted from Black Hawk Down, and the crash is somewhat inspired from the film as well. I took some creative liberties on how to recover from a spin in a Kodiak shuttle (as I described is how you recover in planes and helicopters today)._**

**_Call signs from Generation Kill._**

**_The father with the child running past Coats us borrowed from War of the Worlds (2005 Spielberg film)._**

**_Edited (06/23/2012): As usual, after uploading, I always find several grammar errors and other misstakes._**

**_Edited (06/26/2012): A few minor grammar changes._**

**_Edited (06/26/2012): I accidentally removed a chapter when I was to update it, thus I had to re-upload chapter 1 and 2, nothings changed._**

**_Edited (06/29/2012): The Kodiak dont have windows in the cockpit, so I fixed that._**

**_Edited (09/30/2012): Thanks to reader "torexile" that pointed out a vast amount of grammatical errors throughout the story that are being changed._**

**_Edited (04/02/2013): Changes in grammar and structure._**


	4. Persona Non Grata

The trio had found a way up to the second floor and was clearing hallway after hallway as fast as they could. Liara was on point with Shepard behind her and Ashley in the rear.

"How did they attack this place? It's fairly secure." Ashley mused from the back.

"I don't know." Liara answered. "One minute we got reports of the attack on Earth, and then all hell broke loose. I was not even sure that it was Cerberus first."

"Could they be working with the Reapers?"

"Doubtful." Shepard told Ashley. "But I guess anything's possible."

They walked up to a door that opened with a hiss and entered a new room, but they stopped in their tracks when a single shot was heard in front of them behind a bundle of pipes. Shepard leaped forward and covered behind the pipes, Ashley and Liara hugged the wall in the hallway nearby.

Liara's voice could be heard in their earpieces, "We got company."

Behind the pipes, Shepard could hear one of the troopers reporting in.

_"This is Recoil 1-6 to Hitman Actual, we've done a sweep of the area, kill tally is 5. We're going to check in on Recoil 2-6 as they reported contacts in the vehicle hall and they've not responded in since then. Recoil 3-6 was doing perimeter check and they're gone to."_

Shepard slowly moved down the side of the vertical pipes. Once in position he rose up and fired a controlled burst at one of the closest troopers, the bullets ripped through the armored helmet and death was instantaneously. The attack surprised the remaining three and they tried to flee to cover. Shepard opened fire at another trooper who vaulted over a crate, the bullets from his M8 hit the trooper but only injured him, he cried out in agony as Shepard returned to cover behind the piping.

_"Contact! Who are these guys?" _A trooper yelled out from behind cover, opening fire at Shepard's direction.

Ashley and Liara moved up to the piping as well, feeling more secure there than at the wall when bullets began flying around. The injured trooper rose up from cover determined to kill the unknown attackers, but Liara unleashed a warp that killed the trooper.

_"The Alliance sent fucking backup!"_

_"Recoil Actual, we're engaged by an unknown squad. Send backup!"_

Shepard turned from cover and fired at a trooper that unsuccessfully tried to move from behind a hand rail to vault over a reinforced low wall, the trooper staggered from the hits of the high-velocity rounds and Liara aimed her M9 Tempest and finished the kill. The final trooper was behind said reinforced wall and tried to run to a door on the opposite side of the room to escape the attackers, but was gunned down when Shepard's squad broke cover.

"Oh, Goddess." Liara muttered in sorrow and looked at the body of the recently executed scientist. She had walked up to the body after the final trooper was killed.

"Did you know him?" Shepard asked from behind her.

"Barely, he had a small girl and wife on Earth I believe."

Seeing dead civilians being killed in cold blood were never an easy sight, and something only cowards did. Shepard did not usually take joy in killing, but now after killing these Cerberus troopers he could not help but feel some measure of justice.

Shepard told Liara, "I'm sorry, but we have to move, backup could arrive any minute now."

"Yes, I know."

They quickly regrouped and continued through the door and found themselves in an empty tram station, they walked into an adjacent control room and inside they found several guards executed. Liara took a seat next to a computer and Shepard was already seated at another computer console. The access route to the tramway was locked and if they could not get the door open they would be delayed, and time was of the essence.

"I'll see if I can override the lock down controls," Shepard said as he navigated through the menus of the operating system.

"Ok, I will take a look at the live feeds at the archive complex; maybe we can get an idea of the force composition." Liara told him.

Ashley was pacing around the control station with her weapon at the ready scanning for targets, but the movement of a woman on a monitor grabbed her attention.

"Who's that?" Ashle asked and walked closer to the monitor. _At least someone's alive. Maybe she's got answers._

Liara turned around to look at the feed. "Dr. Eva Core, she arrived a week ago." Liara herself were not having any luck with the live feeds from the Archive complex. "I was not able to access the feeds. Better luck, John?" Liara turned her attention to Shepard who was hunched over the computer.

He shook his head. "No, we're locked out."

Liara sighed as she turned to a floor plan on the wall behind them and studied it.

"Alright, it seems like there's a construction going on. We can get out on the roof there." She pointed to the other side of the room were a maintenance door lead to an exterior airlock.

* * *

The group had gone outside and traversed the construction scaffolding. The storm had gotten closer and the wind was gushing faster than before, making it very dangerous walking outside. Eventually they found a ladder down to a maintenance gangway that lead to an airlock at the building which connected to the tram system. From the gangway they could observe the tramway across the chasm connecting to the Prothean Archives.

The radio came alive, it was Vega, _"Commander, do you read me?"_

The storm was interfering with the radio signals, disrupting the communication, but it was still somewhat audible.

"Yeah, barely. The storm's causing interference. What's your status?"

They climbed another set of ladders and arrived on a roof and head of them was the airlock.

_"No shit, I've lost contact with the Normandy. What's y-"_ The radio cut out due to the storm.

"I can't hear you, James. Repeat last traffic."

_"I said-"_ Once more the radio cut out, but this time for the last time.

"Damn it." Shepard cursed under his teeth.

"The storm will be here soon." Ashley told Shepard.

"Yeah-"

Shepard was suddenly interrupted by Liara as they arrived at the airlock, "This airlock should not be open."

Shepard scrutinized the airlock and pointed out, "It does not seem like it was forced open."

"You need to override security protocols." Liara observed grimly.

They walked inside the airlock and it was draped in darkness; no lights were on, making it difficult to see. They turned on the tactical flashlights on their assault rifles and walked down a flight of stairs and noticed that the door below them was open. They arrived on a gangway above a large hall. A few meters further in Shepard spotted a body on the floor with his flashlight.

_Christ!_ It dawned upon him what had happened. "Someone vented the air with people still inside."

"This is brutal even for Cerberus standards." Liara spat in anger.

They continued walking further and Shepard noticed that it was a large cafeteria, below them were rows with tables and chairs, and even more bodies. They walked down a flight of stairs and were standing amidst the tables when the window shutters in front of them began to open.

"Get down!" Shepard ordered as he took cover behind a counter.

The window shutters revealed a junction with another four man squad of Cerberus troopers standing close to the windows.

The squad leader was in contact with command, _"Solid Copy, Hitman Actual, Chaos 2-1 out."_

_"What's the order?"_ A trooper asked.

_"There's an Alliance force out there, Hitman Actual have reported the loss of Recoil 1, 2 and 3. We need to keep these Alliance fuckers away from the Archives."_

_"Roger."_

_"Let's check out the cafeteria."_

_"It's dark, do you want me to shoot out the windows?"_

_"No!"_ Growled the squad leader. _"Not unless you want to decompress this room too."_

Shepard decided he had listen in enough and that it was time to surprise the troopers, he quickly formulated a plan. "Ash, lets shoot out the windows. Liara, a singularity if you would be so kind."

"Roger." - "You got it."

"On my mark..."

_"I don't see anyone in there."_

_"Let's find a-"_

"Now!" Shepard ordered in to the radio.

Shepard rose from cover and aimed his weapon and opened fire at the window and the Cerberus squad leader. The Cerberus squad did not have time to react as controlled bursts from both Shepard's and Ashley's weapons shattered the windows. Shepard's bullets passed through and killed the squad leader and Liara's singularity enveloped the remaining three. Shepard, Ashley and Liara opened fire at the Cerberus troops as they were floating in the singularity's gravitational radius, the Cerberus troops fell dead to the ground when the singularity disappeared.

After Shepard and his two squad members confirmed that the troopers were dead, they jumped into the room, Liara directed them to a small control room that housed the Environmental Controls for this portion of the building. Inside they found two dead guards in their chairs, slumped over the desks. They had been executed.

"We need to pressurize the room before we can go further into the complex." Liara explained as she walked over to a computer.

Shepard stood beside her and watched several the monitors with the security feeds from across the compound. After Liara had pressed a few buttons on the holographic keyboard, air began venting in and the airlock they had gone through earlier closed, sealing them in.

"We have access to the rest of the complex and we can get to the tram station now." She explained.

"Ok." Shepard answered as he was pressing a few button on the keyboard to a computer he stood next to. He was going through the security feed. "I think I have something here." Ashley and Liara gathered around him as he began playing the footage on the monitor.

It showed the two guards sitting at their computers. The closest security officer was trying to raise the main security station of the complex; the guard reported some strange activity across the complex. Then a woman walked into the control room and quickly pulled a gun and shot the two guards from behind. The woman herself walked over to a security terminal and began typing on the keyboard. Another monitor showed a security feed from inside the cafeteria as the airlock opened and all air was vented out of the hall, effectively killing all the staff inside.

"Now we know who the traitor is." Shepard said in a low voice.

Liara began blaming herself for not having noticed it earlier, pacing around and then stopped at a computer and hovering at it. "I should have known, I should have realized when I first met her, but I was too focused on the research."

Shepard turned to her. "You can't blame yourself, stopping the Reapers is our main objective. It's not your fault."

She sighed. "But what if we're wrong, what if we can't stop them? This could very well be the last days, and here we are running around trying to stop a problem that can't be fixed."

Ashley stood at the door, watching the two of them. She could not help but think that Liara was right but she shook her head and walked outside the control room, she did not need to be reminded all the time about the impossible odds against them.

"Liara..." Shepard pleaded, trying to reassure her. "Don't talk like that."

"I know, sorry. I should not think like that." Liara turned to Shepard. "How do you do it, John? How do you stay focused, even in the worst of situations?" He was such a strong-willed person, she could not fathom it, he had been hung out to dry by the Alliance and Council countless time and yet he carried on.

"There's so much at stake, we could lose everything. I think about all I could lose, my friends, and..." Shepard's voice trailed off, he looked down on the floor. He was glad that Liara could not properly see his expression through his helmet. He started to think about Miranda. So many fond memories came abruptly, he had not thought about her for some time know, not since before Vega walked into his room in London. That was this morning, but it felt like another lifetime ago. So much had changed since then.

They had not met in six months, not even talked. But he knew it was for the best, the Alliance would have raised a few eye brows if a former Cerberus operative had contacted him. He wondered where she was, what she was doing. He knew she could take care of herself, but a part of him was worried.

He remembered the last words they said to each other on the space port at Ilium where he dropped her off before heading to Earth.

"_Don't go!" Miranda pleaded, cupping his face with her hands. They had just shared an intimate kiss. She gently caressed his jaw line and cheeks._

"_I'm sorry, but I have to. It's the only way; we can't battle the Reapers on our own." They stood close to each other, resting their foreheads against each other._

"_They've betrayed you more than once already, what do you think will happen if you go to Earth?" Her voice was fragile. She let go of his jaw line and rested her arms on his shoulders._

"_I know, I'm not naïve, I know what will happen when I go to the Alliance. They'll lock me up, but I have the support of Anderson and Hackett, they'll do their best to protect me from anything serious." He had his arms around her waist. The last thing he wanted was to leave her, but his duty and honor compelled him to head to Earth._

"_Damn you and your hero antics and morals." She cleared her throat, looking into his eyes; her own eyes were red from tears._

_Shepard noted that this was very out of character for her. Had Miranda changed so much, just like Liara had told him?_

_"I'm sorry." Shepard gave her a smile and a soft kiss on her lips._

"_No." She told him. "That's man I fell for."_

Shepard snapped back to reality, he missed her so much. He tried to push aside those feelings for the moment, they needed to get to the archive and the blueprints before Cerberus; before the Reapers came, and he couldn't mope about it now.

"I'm, sorry, John." Liara said in a hushed voice.

The asari figured he was thinking of Miranda, Liara was one of the few people that knew of Shepard's and Miranda's relationship, she suspected that he had kept it a secret from the Alliance, even a friend like Admiral Anderson probably did not know about it. It would probably not sit well that not only had he joined an organization like Cerberus against the Collectors, but he was also in a relationship with a former operative of said organization. Liara did not say anything about it, they were on an open radio channel and Ashley could hear every word they said. Liara suspected that there were unresolved issues between him and Ashley since Horizon last year.

Shepard cleared his throat and looked up at her "Yeah, me to, Liara. But we will stop them."

"I hope so."

"Right." He told her. "Let's go, shall we?"

"Of course." Liara turned around and punched in a few keys on the keyboard and a large door on the other side of the hall opened with a hiss. "We can go through there to get to the labs."

Ashley looked at them curiously from her position outside the cubicle, wondering what had prompted Shepard's sudden change in tone.

* * *

Shepard's squad was working their way through the complex, the tram station was on the other side of the complex, and they needed to get there fast. They quickly cleared every hallway and room they came across in their path but did not encounter any Cerberus troops. Eventually they reached a junction that connected to the tram station's security station, and as stealthy as possible they made their way to the security station above the tram station. They stacked up next to the door and opened it, Shepard walked in and hugged the wall next to the door as he did not want to take any chances if there was troops around the corner. He cautiously peeked around the corner and his suspicions were correct; a squad of Cerberus troops was in the security room. Almost level with the wall in the hall was an overturned table that he figured he could use as cover.

Shepard began quickly planning for their assault and spoke into the radio. "Ok, I'll take cover behind the table while you-"

Suddenly a Cerberus trooper casually walked past the corner, he was as stunned and surprised seeing Shepard, Liara and Ashley, as they were seeing the Cerberus trooper_. _

_"They're here!"_ Screamed the trooper into his voice module while he tried to raise his shotgun.

But Shepard reacted instantaneously; he dropped his M8 on the floor and reached for the trooper's shotgun with his left hand over the hand guard while he hit the trooper's helmet with other arm, the armored plated elbow did not do any damage to the man's face due to the helmet, but the trooper staggered back after the hit.

Shepard quickly adjusted the shotgun and aimed it at the trooper's head and pulled the trigger and at the close range the shotgun rounds ripped through the helmet and killed the Cerberus trooper. Shepard dropped the shotgun and retrieved his Avenger from the floor and blind fired from the cover of the wall. Shepard then ran the few meters to the overturned table and took cover behind it. It was a thick sturdy table that would, for a short time, withstand the high-velocity rounds that the Cerberus troopers were firing at him.

_"Hold the station at all costs!"_ A Cerberus squad leader shouted while engaging Shepard behind the table.

There were three troops taking cover further down the hall, Shepard quickly rose from cover and fired his weapon down range. On his right, Liara fired of a singularity that caught one of the troopers in its radius. Shepard took the opportunity and killed the man with a burst of fire; the body was then flung away to the back of the room after the singularity disappeared. Shepard reached for his last grenade and threw it down the hall behind a work station where two troopers were taking cover. The grenade-blast killed them both.

Shepard, Liara and Ashley quickly cleared the security station, and after confirming that all hostiles were dead they holstered their weapons.

Liara walked over to a computer terminal and she tried to override the apparent lock down, but to no avail. "We're locked in. I can't access the trams."

"What if we could find a way to communicate with the Cerberus troops?" Ashley was thinking out loud.

Shepard asked confused, "Come again?"

"If we could talk to them through a short range transmitter, helmet-to-helmet, we can 'ask' for reinforcements from the Prothean Archives."

Ashley began surveying the room and the Cerberus casualties for a functioning helmet, but all the Cerberus troops had been either shot in the head, or the grenade had ripped them apart.

She continued, "Or we can report that the Alliance forces had been taken out, and that we need transport away from here."

Shepard thought about it for a few moments, asking for a bunch of Cerberus troops to show up was not the best idea in the universe. Then again, they had no way of getting away from the tram station.

Eventually Shepard nodded, "Alright, it's the only option really. See what you can find."

Ashley nodded and walked away.

Shepard turned to Liara who looked at him and he asked, "What?"

"Only that the Ashley has become very capable."

Shepard nodded; he had to agree on that part.

"Commander. I've found something," Ashley called out into her radio from the room on the opposite side, she opened the door and revealed a dead Cerberus trooper that looked different from the regular troops they had been fighting, he had bulkier and heavier armor.

Shepard walked towards Ashley and into the small room and looked at the body, He had been shot in the torso and it was probably the trooper who had been caught in the singularity.

"What do you have?"

"He's got a transmitter in the helmet, if I can..." Ashley tried to remove the faceplate from the helmet, as soon as she had removed it, she gasped and staggered back, revealing husk-like features on the man's face, the synthetic eyes was still glowing.

Ashley said in disbelief, "Oh God. He looks like a husk..."

"Not quite, but they have done something with him." Shepard observed as he walked closer and knelt in front of the body.

From behind them came Liara, she'd heard Ashley's surprise. "What's going-" The sight of the fallen Cerberus trooper made her stop in mid-sentence. "Oh, Goddess."

"Engineered? By Cerberus?" Ashley asked in disgust. "They claim to stand for humanity and then they do this, to their own people?"

Shepard reached into the helmet and removed the radio transmitter; he rose up and was examining the small device.

"That could have been you, Shepard!" Ashley turned to him, troubled by what Cerberus was capable of. "For all I know, that's what they have done to you."

_Not this again!_ "How can you compare me to that thing?"

Ashley sighed. "I'm just talking out loud. I don't need you to answer, I'm not even sure you could say anything that could convince me."

_This is Horizon all over again._ "Apparently." Shepard said coldly.

"I don't know what you are...not since they got their hands on you. Is this even you?" She gestured at him. "Would you even know if they were controlling you?"

Shepard's posture changed, eyes widened at her apparent betrayal, although Ashley couldn't see that properly because of his helmet. Shepard closed the gap between them.

"We don't have time for this, I'm still the same person I was three years ago. Do whatever you want. If you don't trust me, fine, so be it." Shepard scolded her, his tone was lethal.

Shepard chuckled humorlessly before stepping back. "The fun part is that, Liara, Garrus, Wrex and Tali all helped me in one way or form on the Collector mission. I thought of all people you would be the one I could trust, Williams."

Ashley turned away, angered and saddened at his words. She did not know who the man was in front of her; the old John Shepard would not have used such words. The old John Shepard was a caring and loving man. She thought back to the night before Virmire three years ago, it almost brought tears to her eyes. She blinked them away and shook her head. She was grateful that her helmet obscured her face.

Liara watched the two humans arguing. She did not know what to do or say. She was saddened to see what was happening in front of her. The old team she knew from the past was deteriorating. Liara could not understand how Ashley could believe that Shepard was a Cerberus agent that he was controlled by the Illusive Man. Ashley had once loved Shepard and now...Liara did not know what to believe. And Shepard's reaction made her sorrowful as well.

_He must have felt extremely betrayed by Ashley last year. More so than he has let on._

Shepard looked down on the communication device in his hand. He felt bad for those harsh words spoken, but he reasoned that he did have a point. Ashley had betrayed him and walked away.

Shepard sighed and tried to calm down a bit. He figured he had to try and patch things up later, but if she did not want to believe in him then it could very well be a lost cause, but he would try because Shepard did not want them to be enemies. He had moved on with his life since her betrayal, but it all flared up every time his allegiances were questioned by her.

Shepard looked up and said, "Ash, I…"

But Ashley walked further away from him, with her back to him and Shepard stopped in mid-sentance.

Instead, Shepard turned his attention to the mission at hand again. "Let's see if we can get that tram here." He turned on the device and talked into it. "This is tram station team, come in."

There were a few moments of silence before a voice answered. _"Where the hell have you been? Never mind, what's you status?"_

"We made contact with the Alliance force and have neutralized them. We need pick up. How copy?"

_"Solid copy, Misfit 2-6 will ride over and secure station. Standby."_

Shepard threw away the communicator. _Misfit? Ironic call sign considering what you all have become._

"You think they bought it?" Ashley asked in a professional tone as if their previous argument had never happened. She had turned to Shepard now and watched him.

"Probably not." Shepard did not meet her eyes. "Regardless, they will know soon enough."

"We should take up position down below, trap them in a kill zone." Ashley pointed down the tram station through the window.

Shepard nodded and equipped his assault rifle. They exited the room and found some stairs leading down the embarkation hall below them. Shepard ordered Ashley and Liara to take cover behind some crates on the left side of the tram airlock, while Shepard found a crate in front of the entrance.

On the other side of the chasm, they saw a tram car moving closer. Eventually it stopped and an airlock behind the tramcar closed as it sealed them. After a few moments of pressurizing the gate in the embarkation hall opened and revealed a handful of troopers dismounting the car, two squads this time.

_Apparently they suspected we were not their people, __mused Shepard._

"Engage them." Shepard ordered coolly in his radio and turned from cover and opened fire at the disembarked Cerberus troops, his fire killed his intended target and he moved his sights to the next.

_"It's an ambush, find cover!"_ A trooper called out.

A singularity enveloped two troopers, Shepard was still not taking any serious fire and aimed his rifle at the singularity and was about to press his trigger when Liara used a warp to detonate it, killing the helpless troopers.

The rest of the troopers tried to regroup, but the effective flanking fire from Shepard, Liara and Ashley had them trapped in a kill zone, and soon four more troopers fell to the incoming fire. The last remaining trooper tried to vault over a crate but was shot in the back by Ashley and fell dead to the floor.

Shepard ordered the others to follow him and they all broke cover and ran for the tramcar; once inside, Shepard activated the controls, the gate closed behind and the outer airlock opened and the tram started to slowly move over the chasm.

"The storm's getting closer, we better finish this fast."

Liara nodded at Shepard. "The archives are right on the other side."

"And a squad of pissed off troopers." Ashley pointed out.

The tramcar continued along the magnetic rails and eventually slowed down as it neared the complex. The tramcar stopped and was sealed in the airlock as it was being pressurized.

"Take cover, they're bound to have set up an ambush."

"Roger, Commander." - "Of course, Shepard."

The trio took cover inside the tram and waited for the chamber to be pressurized, and the airlock opened to reveal a similar embarkation hall as the one they had left, and this one had Cerberus trooper in it waiting. Before the troopers could react Shepard opened fire with a controlled burst from his rifle, Ashley and Liara followed suite and opened fire as well at the three closest to the tram. They fell quickly, but there were four other troopers further down the hall that fired back at Shepard's squad

The Cerberus troops laid down suppressive fire as they moved back a bit to take cover behind crates which was stacked inside. Liara pulled one out of cover with her biotics while Shepard and Ashley shot the man who eventually fell to the floor. The three other troopers blind fired at the tramcar, with not much effect on target. Shepard decided that it was time to leave the tramcar and ran to the door and hunched down low and stepped out and took cover behind the closest crate. He was still receiving indirect fire, and he popped out of cover and he aimed his rifle at an unsuspecting trooper that had taken cover at a wall. With a burst from his M8 the trooper was down.

_"Holy shit! It's Shepard!" _A Cerberus trooper cried out from behind a set of crates near the recently killed trooper.

Shepard took cover behind the crates again as more rounds came towards him. Shepard wondered if anyone of these Cerberus men had been part of his Collector mission last year or if they had merely been briefed on him? Regardless, they were on the opposite side of his rifle and Shepard would duly kill any Cerberus personnel that got in his way.

Shepard saw the trooper and fired a concussion grenade at him; the trooper was knocked down and out of cover. Ashley and Liara quickly killed him with some well-placed rounds. The last trooper was covering behind a counter in a cubicle in the middle of the room which was probably the security station. Shepard began firing at the figure as one of Liara's singularities enveloped the trooper and he was soon killed by Shepard's rounds.

* * *

Shepard, Liara and Ashley took up position next to the door that led to the Prothean Archives past the security station, Liara opened the door and the trio rushed into a large circular hall. Shepard stopped and looked across the hall; it was empty and as far as he could see there were no enemies in sight. In the middle of the room he could see what looked like a giant Prothean Beacon that was incased in a holographic green-tinted barrier. Gangways had been constructed around the 'beacon' and several computers could be seen further down, hooked up to the Prothean mainframe. Shepard was amazed by the scope of the archives.

Shepard turned to Ashley. "Ash, I need you on perimeter watch, take a walk around the room, see if you find anything. Then get back here."

"Of course, Commander." Ashley hurried away from Shepard and Liara who ran over to the computers.

"I'll download the blue-prints to my omni-tool." Liara told Shepard as she began typing on the keyboard at one of the computers.

Shepard nodded and was about to say something when he was interrupted by a voice.

_"Shepard."_

Shepard froze, he had not heard that voice in over six months, but from behind he could hear the familiar voice of the Illusive Man. Shepard spun around with his M8 and aimed it at the man who stood in front of him. But it was only a blue-colored holographic representation of the Illusive Man, Shepard lowered his assault rifle.

_Pity, it would have nice to shoot the bastard._

The Cerberus leader smiled grimly at Shepard._ "I see that you're still a blunt instrument."_

"The Illusive Man?" Liara breathed under her teeth through her voice module of her helmet. She had also turned around and was surprised by his sudden appearance at the holographic communicator.

_"Ahh, the Shadow Broker." _Greeted the Illusive Man. _"I was not surprised when Dr. Coré reported that you where here on Mars. I lost a lot of men when we assaulted your ship. I did not think that you would have sacrificed it." _The Illusive Man took a drag from his cigarette and exhaled the smoke.

Shepard gave Liara a look of confusion. _Had he attacked the Shadow Broker's ship?_

"I'm glad that I could disappoint you." Liara said coolly.

_"No."_ The well-dressed man said and shook his head. _"You did not disappoint at all, Ms. T'Soni, even though we did not get you, we interrupted your operations for some time." _He did not elaborate further and turned his attention to Shepard._ "Fascinating isn't? The protheans were utterly destroyed and left this behind, only for us to squander it." _He paused and surveyed the large hall and the beacon.

_"The Alliance has known about this place for 38 years, and yet they have done nothing about it. It only shows what fat and crude organization they are."_

"What do you want?" Shepard talked through his voice module and glared at the Illusive Man.

The Illusive Man was silent, tilting his head towards the Prothean Archive. Shepard and Liara turned around and gazed upon it.

_"What I've always wanted. The data in these archives hold the solution to the Reaper threat."_

Shepard and Liara turned to face the Illusive Man.

Shepard spat, "Oh, I've seen your_ 'solutions'_." Shepard said angrily. "You've turned your people into synthetic monsters."

The Illusive Man snorted at Shepard's short sighted comment. _"Hardly, they're being improved."_

"Improved?"

_"That's what separates us, Shepard. Where you see the means to destroy, as evident by the destruction of the Collector base, I see something that can be controlled. Harnessed. Dominated. Imagine how strong humanity would be if we dominated the Reapers."_

"Earth is being destroyed, and you're scheming to control the Reapers and dominate the other species of the galaxy?" Shepard asked sternly.

_"You were always shortsighted, Shepard. You proved that last year."_

"The Collector base was an abomination." Shepard snarled at him. "Tens of thousands of humans were murdered there. No way in hell I was going to let you take control of that base."

_"This fight is over for you, Shepard; you can't defeat the Reapers, even with the prothean data."_

"Was not that the reason you brought me back? I'll defeat them."

_"Doubtful, the odds are not in your favor. But more importantly, I don't want the Reapers destroyed. With their power we can bring humanity to the apex of evolution."_

Shepard snapped back. "You're delusional! I'll bring them down, and if you get in my way, I will take down Cerberus."

The Illusive Man shook his head and spoke calmly. _"Shepard, all this may be too much for a blunt instrument to understand, and your arrogance will not help you. You were a tool and despite our differences you were a successful one I might add."_

Shepard grinned."Yeah, considering I stole your ship and your best operative, I say I was quite successful."

The Illusive Man just shrugged to Shepard's comment. _"That's inconsequential, and like the rest of the relics in this galaxy, your time is over."_

Shepard had grown tired of the Illusive Man. "Get the data, Liara."

Liara nodded and turned to the computer behind her and began pressing a few buttons on the keyboard.

_"Don't interfere with my plans, Shepard. I won't warn you again."_

"Duly noted." Responded Shepard sarcastically.

"Shepard!" Liara shouted perplexed from behind him.

Shepard turned around. "What?"

"The data is gone! It's being erased!"

Shepard turned to the holographic communicator only to see the communications was shut down. He quickly turned to Liara again and walked over to the computers. "How is he doing it?"

"It's local, it must be coming from somewhere inside the archives." Liara explained as she franticly tried to save the data, but she could not do anything to stop the process.

* * *

Ashley Williams had almost walked around the hall and was nearing Shepard and Liara, when she noticed a figure in a small cubicle in front of her. She ran up to the cubicle and aimed her assault rifle at the back of the figure, it appeared to be a female.

"Step away from the console!" Ashley shouted to the woman through her voice module.

To Ashley, the woman resembled the traitor, Dr. Eva Coré. Coré only moved her head slightly, but she did not look back and she was still tapping the keys at the holographic keyboard.

Ashley shouted once more at the woman. "I said, step away!"

Ashley slowly walked over to Coré with the intention of dragging her away from the console. But Coré was faster than Ashley. She moved Ashley's rifle away from her body and with an agile kick, Ashley flew out of the cubicle and into the wall behind her, she slumped down on the gangway. Coré then activated her omni-tool and jammed it into the computer interface which overloaded the mainframe. She ran away from the cubicle.

Her job was done.

Ashley stumbled up; she was still in pain after the attack, and shouted into her radio. "She's got the data!"

* * *

Shepard turned around, trying to find Ashley.

_What the hell is going on? _

Shepard saw a woman running past them on the gangway.

_Shit, she's fast! A damn athlete!_

Shepard and Liara brought up their weapons and fired at the women as she crossed the gangway, Shepard was unsure if any of his bullets hit her, if they did, her shields was protecting her. Shepard took off as fast as he could and followed her, Liara and Ashley began to run after Shepard. With his weapons, an assault rifle and his M5 Phalanx heavy pistol, and armor he was not as fast as he had wished for. The woman only had a skin tight cat suit on her and was much faster.

They ran after Coré through the entrance they had gotten in through earlier, Coré took a left after the security station and entered a fire escape door and quickly climbed the emergency ladder to the roof.

"Don't let her get away!" Shepard shouted into the radio as he hooked a left and saw Coré disappearing up the roof.

Shepard quickly holstered his rifle and followed her up the ladder. When he got up on the roof he reached for his rifle and opened fire at Coré with still no effect on the target.

Outside the storm had almost reached the compound, encasing it in sand.

A Cerberus shuttle flew over them, and Coré continued onwards at a tremendous speed, to Shepard it almost felt unnatural, but he figured the women had done some extensive modifications to herself to be able to sustain a running speed like that. The hatch on the shuttle opened and revealed two Cerberus designated marksmen that opened fire at Shepard. He quickly dove to cover behind a few feet high roof extension. Shepard peered out from cover and opened fire at the hovering shuttle.

Ashley was the second one through the hatch and drew her rifle from her back and assisted Shepard, the Cerberus marksmen was quickly disposed.

The shuttle took off, heading towards Coré. Coré stopped for cover and Shepard opened fire at her, only hitting her shields.

_Shepard cursed__, though bitch to take down_!

Coré took off again, this time she jumped down below to a platform and ran for a ladder. Shortly, Shepard was above the platform and stopped to once again fire at Coré with very little effect. Shepard jumped down with Ashley and Liara in tow and headed for the ladder that led to the landing platform on the roof. When they reached the platform, Coré was practically at the hovering shuttle. She jumped into it and the door of the shuttle closed behind her.

Shepard stopped a few meters away from the shuttle as it lifted off the roof.

Shepard snarled out of breath, "Fuck! James? Normandy? Anybody"

_Their only hope to stop the Reapers slowly lifted off. They had been so close!_

Shepard's radio came alive despite interference. _"I got this one."_ It was Vega.

Through the sand storm a Kodiak shittle in Alliance colors appeared. With its nose pointed downwards, the shuttle headed straight for the Cerberus shuttle that was being readied for level flight.

Vega's shuttle rammed the Cerberus shuttle on its right side, sending it into the roof, its engine and thrusters were damaged and the pilot could not recover from the head on collision. The shuttle crashed into the roof with nose first and it skidded across the platform and stopped, the shuttle began to burn slowly as it was consumed by the fire.

Vega fired the thrusters and slowly began his descent on the platform; he sat it down near the Cerberus shuttle and Shepard's squad.

Shepard, Liara and Ashley had ran from the incoming shuttle as it crashed, there was nothing on the roof that could have given them cover so they had ran away and threw themselves on the floor of platform as far away from the shuttle as they could. Shepard stood up observed the severely damaged Cerberus shuttle.

_Damn Vega! He could have killed us! _

He turned to Vega's shuttle as the door opened.

Vega stepped out of the shuttle casually, looking around the roof. He saw Shepard turning around the end of the shuttle and walked towards him.

Vega informed, "The Normandy is inbound, they'll be here soon."

Shepard was about to scold the Lieutenant, but simmered down, it was not the time or the place.

Shepard nodded and said, "Okay."

* * *

On the other side of their shuttle, Ashley had picked up Liara and she helped her towards Vega's shuttle. Liara was leaning on Ashley for help as she was still dozed after the violent crash nearby. She protested at being moved away from the Cerberus shuttle and the data onboard.

"We need the data!"

"Yes, but you're injured, Liara." Ashley explained.

Behind them, the shuttle door was kicked away with a tremendous force. Ashley turned to the sound of it and looked dumbfounded at the shuttle. Inside the shuttle a feminine figure stood up in the fire, explosion and fire had burned away all clothes and skin and revealed a metallic synthetic with blue-tinted glowing eyes. Ashley pushed away Liara and reached for her pistol and opened fire at the synthetic which leaped forward at Ashley, ignoring the bullets. The synthethic reached out for Ashley's gun and threw it away and then grabbed Ashley's helmet and lifted her up from the platform.

Shepard had heard the gunfire and saw what was happening from behind the shuttle and came running around the Kodiak, he reached for his M8.

"Ash!" He cried out and aimed his weapon at the synthetic. Everything that had happened during the chase made so much more sense now when he saw the naked, metallic body that was scorched from the fire. Behind him, Vega reached for his weapon to. Shepard could not open fire at the synthetic as it was holding Ashley as a human shield in front of it.

Ashley was trying to get away from the synthetic's grip, but it was too strong, it was just standing there and holding her in its grip above the platform. The synthetic tilted its head and spoke in a calm, unnatural voice.

"Orders?"

Apparently it was talking with someone. Ashley could not hear anything, but after a few silent moments the synthetic turned around with Ashley in hand and walked towards the burning shuttle.

_Oh, shit! Not good!_

Ashley continued to try and remove the synthetic's grip around her helmet.

The synthetic slammed Ashley's body into the side of the burning Kodiak like she was a rag-doll. The pain was excruciating and Ashley screamed into the radio.

Shepard cried out, "No!" He felt so powerless when the synthetic was slamming Ashley's body into the Kodiak.

The synthetic dropped Ashley's body on the platform and turned around facing Shepard and Vega as it began running towards them.

The two soldiers opened fire at the synthetic that ran towards them; it was unfazed by their high-velocity rounds hitting the body. When it had closed the distance so it could almost reach out to them, the synthetic fell to their rounds. Both Shepard and Vega aimed their weapons at the synthetic for a few moments, waiting for it to move. But it didn't. Shepard holstered his rifle and leaped towards Ashley's body. She was lying motionless next to the Kodiak,

"Grab that thing and bring it with us!" Shepard ordered and gestured at the synthetic on the ground.

"I'm on it!" Vega called out and holstered his rifle and picked up the synthetic over his left shoulder.

_"Commander! We got Reaper signatures in orbit."_ Joker informed them on the radio.

_"_Affirmative." Shepard responded as he stopped at Ashley. He shouted terrified into his radio, hoping she would hear it. "Ash! Ashley!"

He knelt down and picked up the unconscious woman. His heart sank as he held her in his arms.

_Please don't die, Ash! I'm sorry! _

He turned around and saw the Normandy descending over the platform. Liara had picked herself up from the ground and rushed towards the cargo port of the Normandy as it opened. Vega was nearby with the synthetic over his arms. Shepard soon joined them with Ashley in his arms.

Shepard turned around inside the Normandy and watched the complex one last time before the bay closed, in the distance he saw several Reapers descending on Mars.

* * *

**_This chapter was actually finished when I uploaded the previous one, I only divided them._**

**_Half a line lifted from Casino Royale._**

**_I cut a few things, such as going through the labs, the turret near the security station and several engagements._**

**_Tried to up the tension between Ashley and Shepard, mostly Shepard, preparing for emotions to run high at a later stage._**

**_We will see the return of a few characters from the second game, I always thought it was cheap to give the characters from the second game only 10 minutes or so of "Hi, here I am, remember me?", considering there were quite a few that had large roles in the previous story. Decisions pending on whom will return in larger roles (with the exception of Miranda who is locked in already)._**

**_I'm hunting grammar errors and such!_**

**_Edited (6/27/2012): Rating changed to T and will be so after a suggestion over PM._**

**_Edited (09/30/2012): Thanks to reader "torexile" that pointed out a vast amount of grammatical errors throughout the story that are being changed. _**

**_Edited (04/04/2013): Grammar and structure changes._**


	5. Cowboy Diplomacy

Shepard ran through the crew quarters towards the infirmary with Ashley in his arms, she was still unconscious. The door opened with a hiss and he quickly walked over to a bed and gently put her down. Behind him came Vega with the synthetic body and left it on another bed. Liara walked slowly over to Shepard who with a sad expression watched Ashley's body. They had removed her helmet, and they could see a bruised face with dried blood on it.

Liara turned her attention to Shepard who was standing over Ashley; he was silent and appeared worried and restless.

"Ashley needs medical attention."

Shepard did not look at Liara, his eyes was fixated on the unconscious woman on the bed. He did not acknowledge that Liara even had talked to him.

Liara leaned over the bed so she appeared in his view. "We need to leave Sol system."

Shepard still focused his attention on Ashley. "I know."

He could not help but to blame himself. He had never bothered to properly clear the Cerberus shuttle, instead he had walked over to Vega, furious over Vegas' carelessness and was about to discipline him when he had instead calmed down. But Shepard had left Ashley and Liara, alone, at the Cerberus shuttle. If he only had been there then this would have been prevented. Plus, they had no doctor onboard so the automatics would have to administer care, and that would only work for a short time, after that Ashley would need real doctors.

"The Citadel is the best place to find help." Liara explained, still hovering over the bed, watching Shepard's sad stare.

Finally, Shepard saw reason and snapped back as the seasoned military commander he was. "Joker, get us to the Citadel."

"_Roger, that."_ Joker replied in the speakers.

"Hold on, Ash." Shepard said softly to Ashley and gently touched her arm. He looked up at Liara who had retreated back from the bed. "See what you and EDI can get from that thing." He tilted his head towards the other sick bed where the synthetic was, Vega stood next to it with his arms crossed.

Liara nodded. "Okay, most likely it would have downloaded the blue-prints to its own memory core."

"Yes, but isolate EDI as much as possible from the synthetic before you access it."

"Understood, John. I-" Liara began before she was interrupted by EDI's voice.

_"Commander, Admiral Hackett is hailing us on the secondary QEC."_

"Understood. Where do I take it?" Shepard knew that the engineers had rebuilt various parts of the ship, especially the old briefing room and comm room. But he had never seen anything that they had done to Normandy.

_"Just go through where you would have accessed Dr. Solus' old lab and then follow the gangway to the War Room and you will find the comm room on the opposite side of the War Room."_

"Thanks, EDI." Replied Shepard and rushed off from the infirmary.

* * *

The door to the comm room slid open with a hiss and inside on one of the communicators was a garbled holographic representation of Admiral Hackett.

_"Commander, do you read me?"_

Shepard walked over to the communicator. "Yes, but the communications is garbled, stand by sir. EDI, can you clear this up?"

_"I'll do my best." _Responded EDI and a few moments later the communication were fixed. _"All done, Commander."_

"Thanks, EDI."

"_Of course Commander, logging you out."_

_"Did you get to the archives?" _Hackett asked.

"Yes, but so was Cerberus. I was confronted by the Illusive Man through a communicator."

Hackett sighed. _"I was worried that Cerberus would be involved. With the help of Liara, and our own Intelligence service, we have tried to monitor Cerberus since you returned to Earth. We never got anything really usable as Cerberus patched any leaks they had, but everything pointed to that they were interested in the Reapers and the protheans."_

Hackett paused for a moment and watched Shepard. _"Did you get the data at least?"_

"We were attacked by a Cerberus synthetic, Ashley is injured, but we think most of the data was downloaded to the synthetic, EDI and Liara are analyzing it." Shepard scolded himself for sounding so casual about Ashley.

_"I'm sorry, Commander. But at least there's some good news."_

"Yes sir, barely."

Shepard could hear footsteps from behind and turned to see Liara coming through the door and walked up to the communicator and stood next to Shepard.

_She worked fast, mused Shepard._

Hackett gazed at Liara. _"Dr. T'soni, have you found anything?"_

Liara nodded to the Admiral. "Yes, it seems that a primarily analysis suggest that it is some kind of Prothean device."

_"A device?"_ Asked Hackett confused.

Liara brought up her omni-tool and pressed a few holographic buttons and transmitted her findings to the communicator. A holographic image of a strange, almost cylindrical device with a large round sphere on top of it appeared.

"It's a weapon, massive in scope, and it's capable of unquantifiable levels of destruction." Liara explained professionally as Hackett and Shepard looked on the rotating image.

Hackett nodded and showed almost no emotion, but he was more optimistic than he had been a few moments earlier._ "Send it to us and we will do our own analysis. If Liara's right, this could very well be what we have been looking for to stop the Reapers."_

"We will extract all of it and send it as soon as we can." Liara told the Admiral and left the comm room.

"I hope you are right, sir." Shepard told Hackett, he was tired and fatigued. "With Ashley wounded, we're heading for the Citadel for medical assistance."

_"I'm sorry Commander, but we both know this is only the beginning. Talk to the Council, show them what you've found and just maybe, we will get their support."_

Shepard was doubtful, "What if we don't get their support?"

_"Do whatever it takes to get them onboard."_

Shepard snapped to attention. "Roger that, sir." He paused for a few moments, thinking about the skeleton crew he had onboard, including the ground team. "Admiral?"

_"Yes, Commander?"_

"With Ashley critically wounded, I only got Liara and Lieutenant James Vega with me. That's an awfully short roster for an assault team."

_"What's on your mind, son?"_

"I'm going to try and round up as many I can from my old team." Shepard said bluntly.

Hackett frowned, absorbing those words. _"Do you mean the team that you had when you hit the Collectors?"_

"Yes, sir. I need people I can trust."

_"Those were Cerberus." _It came out as a question rather than a statement it was intended.

"The Normandy crew, yes, but in the ground team there were only two Cerberus-" Shepard stopped suddenly, his expression changed sorrow. _Jacob._ Another friend he had failed, another one had lost, and one of too many. He knew it would continue like that, it was the realities of war, but loosing close friends always struck him hard. Jacob had died when the platforms came crashing down after they had taken down the Reaper human-larva. Jacob had been killed when a metallic beam had crushed him. It was one of the most horrific deaths of a friend Shepard had ever experienced, Jacob had still been breathing when Shepard had came about and tried to remove the beam from his body. Then he had slowly faded away.

_And it is only one person in the galaxy that can calm down my nerves, and she isn't here._

_"Commander?" _A concerned Hackett asked as he noted the sudden distressful reaction from Shepard.

Shepard took a deep breath and tried to calm down and continued in a low voice, "I need a good team; they were the best I've worked with."

Hackett reasoned that Shepard had a point and did not what to push the issue in regards to Shepard's sudden emotional change, _"Commander, I'm not going to turn down help, do whatever it takes."_

Shepard saluted the superior officer, "Roger that, sir."

"I'll be in touch, Hackett out."

The holographic communicator shut down and Shepard turned around and entered the circular shaped War Room where Liara was waiting near the centrally located holographic war table. In the ceiling electrical wiring was hanging down, the War Room and the Conference Room was far from finished, but it would do the job, it would be the command center for the continuing fight against the Reapers.

Liara could see Shepard's sorrowful expression, his shoulders was slumped now after that Hackett had cut communications. "John?"

Shepard did not answer, his eyes were staring on the circular table in the center of the room, he was lost deep in thought.

"EDI is slowly extracting the information from the synthetic; it does close to 500 zettabytes so it will take some time, plus most of the files will have to be translated to a format we can work with. It will be done when we reach the Citadel." Liara told Shepard, updating him on the situation, trying to get a response from Shepard.

"And Ash?" Shepard asked, now meeting Liara's eyes.

"I've done what I can for her, the automatics are administering drugs and keeping check on her vitals, but she needs proper medical attention."

_Only if we had Chakwas onboard, thought Shepard, then Ashley would have been in good hands._

"The Admiral is right, isn't he? It will get worse."

"If we don't stop the Reapers, then yes."

"I've looked at the data, the device, it could be the solution. If we can build it."

"Yeah." Shepard answered dismayed.

"But I sense that you don't believe it."

"You did not see what they're doing on Earth. How can this weapon solve that?"

"That's not exactly the reassuring words I got from you on Mars." Liara observed sympathetic. "You look tired, John."

"I am." Shepard answered truthfully.

"Thinking of Miranda?"

"Thinking of all those I've lost under my command. And Earth."

"I did not mean to pry." Liara said apologetic.

"It's alright." Shepard said and gave her a tired smile.

"John, we don't have many options. You know we can't defeat them conventionally."

Shepard was silent for a long time. He tried to weigh in all the options, which were none actually. He remembered his little words to Liara back in the security station. She was right; if they fought the Reapers conventionally they would not last long, no matter how many fleets they brought into the war.

"It's worth a shot, isn't?" Liara was tormented by Shepard's depressed attitude. She did not really know what to do; Shepard had never acted like this before, not even when they went after Saren. Now he was tired, and the fire to fight was gone, he was broken.

Shepard noticed that his tired and depressed attitude was rubbing off on Liara, her question sounded as discouraged as his own thinking. But everything had come crashing down; Earth was being attacked, the Illusive Man was trying to advance his own twisted ideas and the Council would most certainly fail to act. But he did not need to drag his long-time friend down. He would do everything in his powers to stay the course; they needed to defeat the Reapers.

'_We will blaze a path into battle for others to follow. Surrender is not in our creed!' _Those were the words that his old drill sergeant once shouted at him during his Special Forces training so many years earlier. He had too many things in his life that would be lost if they did not do anything, at least they would give the Reapers a hell of a fight.

_Maybe you should listen to your own speeches once in a while, John?_

With a bit of renewed vigil Shepard told her, "Alright, make sure you get everything you can from our findings to show them."

Liara gave him a small smile. "Of course. I'm sure the Council will see the need to help." Liara tried her best to be positive with Shepard.

"It will be a hell of a short war if they don't. I'll check on Ashl-"

Liara interrupted Shepard and told him with a firm but concerned voice, "No, you don't. You are exhausted, John. You must sleep, we're 16 hours away from Citadel, and if anything changes with Ashley, I'll wake you. But for now, you must sleep."

Shepard looked at her tired, he was about to argue but sighed. He would not do much good fatigued. "Alright."

"Good, now go."

Shepard nodded and walked past her towards the exit and headed to the elevator. Five minutes later, Shepard was in the bed and was fast asleep.

* * *

Shepard slowly woke up from his sleep. The humming noise from the engines and the view of the stars through the window above him made him realize where he was. He smiled and slowly turned to the side to wrap his arms around the warm beautiful body next to him but he quickly found out that she was nowhere to be found. Shepard sighed and rolled back on his back and stared into the stars. That was the first time in many months that he had believed that she could be found next to him.

But at least he did not feel as exhausted as he did earlier, he actually felt rejuvenated. Shepard sat up and groaned tiredly.

"EDI?"

_"Yes, Commander?"_

"Where are we?"

_"About two hours from the Citadel relay."_ The AI answered.

_Two hours? Had he been sleeping for 14 hours?_ "Why didn't anyone wake me up?"

_"Liara felt that you needed to rest after yesterdays trying experiences."_

Shepard relented, "Okay. Status report?" Shepard slipped out of the bed and began to dress.

_"Lieutenant Williams is stable for the moment, but she is unconscious, the medical facilities of the Citadel should be sufficient to help her recover and they have been contacted. The Normandy and I are battle ready and fully operational, despite some minor esthetic interior flaws."_

Shepard grinned and almost laughed at the last comment. "Understood, EDI. How about the synthetic?"

_"Liara and I have almost mined its memory core of all information about the Prothean device. Orders regarding the platform?"_

Shepard put on a dark-blue shirt to go with his Alliance BDUs and thought for a few moments about what he should do about the synthetic and came to a conclusion. "I want the thing ejected out to space as soon as possible."

_"Of course. Commander?"_

"Yes?"

"_After you talked with Admiral Hackett, he gave us access to a small discretionary fund, an Alliance spending account; I've forwarded account privileges to you."_

"Oh, thank you. I've to thank the Admiral later. How much money?"

"_A little over 4 million credits."_

_Damn, you call that a small fund?_ "Okay, EDI, understood. Crew status?"

_"We have only half the complement, the day shift are finished with their meals and are at their stations."_

"Good. EDI?"

_"Yes, Commander?"_

"Do you still have all the contact information from the old crew? At least those that we collected?"

_"Yes, Commander. None of my servers were purged and I still retain all the information prior to heading to Earth."_

"Good, could you upload those to my computer?" Shepard was now fully dressed and walked up the stairs to the desk and sat down at the computer.

_"Commander, you don't have an account, should I create one?"_

"It would be great."

_"Standby. „There was _a short moment of silence before the AI returned. _"Account: John Shepard. Password: Spectre. All additional contact information can be found in you contact book."_

"Thanks, EDI. That will be all. Notify me ten minutes or so before we exit the relay."

_"Of course, Commander. Logging you out."_

Shepard quickly accessed the contact book, a few from the former team did not have any e-mail addresses but he quickly copied those that were present into the mail program, but left out Miranda's. He intended to write her a private message. He began writing the mass mail.

**_To: Garrus Vakarian, Zaeed Massani, Thane Krios, Tali'Zorah vas Neema, Mordin Solus_**

**_From: John Shepard_**

**_Subject: Galaxy at war_**

_They're here. We're facing war against a technological civilization far superior to our own. 24 hours ago, 0920 GMT yesterday, Earth was attacked, I was there, I escaped with the Normandy, and it was horrific._

_There are a lot of people back on Earth dying as we gather our strength; friends, family, parents and children, they're wondering if we're ever coming back; this isn't their fight, but they're buying us time with their lives._

_The Reapers will hit every planet, every system and they will eradicate our civilizations. This is not about Earth; it's about the entire galaxy. The Alliance has an ambitious plan, it's our only plan and it might not work, but we can't beat them conventionally. We have to fight because we can't go down as all the other races before us. I won't go down._

_I need a team; I need the one I brought through the Omega 4 Relay. We lost people then, and I can't promise that any of us will survive, but I'll do all I can to get you through this._

**_Commander John Shepard, Systems Alliance Navy_**

**_Commanding Officer SSV Normandy SR2_**

Shepard sent the message through the extranet and starred into the monitor.

The words 'we lost people' stuck for a few moments. Not only had Jacob died on the Collector base, but Kasumi as well. She had died protecting the rescued crew, battling the onslaught of Collectors as they headed for the Normandy crash site.

Loosing people in combat was inevitable, but it was always difficult. Shepard had mourned the loss of lives, they were still on his mind, and their sacrifice would not be forgotten by him.

Shepard cleared his head and began writing his message to Miranda.

* * *

Roughly one hour later, and after a quick shower, Shepard stepped out of the elevator at the crew quarters and walked to the mess hall where he found Vega alone, eating breakfast at one of the tables.

"Morning, Vega." Shepard greeted.

"Sir!" The Lieutenant rose from the table to salute, only to be waved off by Shepard.

"There's no need for that. I run my crews differently from others."

Vega nodded and sat down. "Okay, Commander."

Shepard eyed the tray on the table. "Judging from your tray, there's some food around?"

"Yes, but only basic stuff."

Shepard nodded and walked over to the kitchen and started to make himself some breakfast. A few minutes later he returned to the table and sat down in front of Vega.

"Sorry, took the last coffee." Vega said as he motioned with his cup in hand.

"It's alright; I like a cup of warm chocolate."

Shepard had warmed some chocolate and made some sandwiches to eat.

"Okay." Vega told him. "How about the Lieutenant Williams, is she gonna be alright?" Vega motioned with his head at the infirmary.

"Talked to EDI earlier, Ashley is stable but is in need of medical attention at the Citadel."

Vega nodded and the two sat in silence for a few minutes before Shepard broke the silence.

"I'm sorry for snapping back in the cargo bay after we left Earth."

Vega was taken aback by Shepard's comment. "Emotions were running high, sir, I was not any better."

Shepard nodded and took a sip from the last of his chocolate; he had finished his last sandwich a few moments earlier.

"You still want to be dropped off, or do you want to stay?" Shepard asked.

"I want to stay, you were right, we can't win this alone."

"Good, I need another shooter James; we're down to three with Ashley wounded. That's not nearly enough for a ground team."

"You had twelve with you against the Collectors?"

"Yeah, I have sent out a mass mail to several of them and hopefully they'll join. If not, then we have to soldier on." Shepard said matter-of-factly.

"Okay. But I'm unsure about the Council."

"Speak your mind, LT."

"They've never really been fans of humanity." Vega said bluntly. "Not the old one and not this one."

"I _know_."

"I mean, we even have Councilor Udina, but-"

Shepard spat out in anger, "Udina is an arrogant shit!"

Vega was thunderstruck by the Commander outburst, "Ah, okay…maybe I should tag along to the Council."

Shepard chuckled, "It won't be necessary."

"Okay. But what if they don't help us?"

"That's a real concern of mine as well, if the Council stonewall me I'll have to figure something out. Maybe if their worlds are attacked as well they might listen and be more forthcoming. But then again, that could lead to that they want to secure their own borders and not involve themselves with us. But in the end, the galaxy needs to be united or we're screwed to the wall." Shepard sighed; he hated politics, that's what led them here in the first place.

"Understood, Commander. If anyone can do it, it's you."

Shepard chuckled. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"Anytime." Vega said and smiled.

Shepard turned serious, "James, when we hit the Citadel, I need you to get us a lot of provisions, I have no idea how long we will be out. Of course we will return to the Citadel when ever needed but we need a lot of food. And medical supplies as well."

"Yes sir."

"And weapons; assault rifles, battle rifles, SMG's, pistols, DMR's, sniper rifles, the lot. Anything and everything, multiples of each weapon system and spare parts."

"You got it."

"I'll give you access to my alliance spending account." Shepard brought up his omni-tool and gave Vega access to the account. After he was done, Shepard teased, "You better not run of with it."

Vega chuckled. "I won't." The Lieutenant activated his own omni-tool and quickly accessed the account; he was stunned at the amount of money on it.

_Madre de Dios! 4 million credits?_

Shepard smiled at the surprised Vega, "Good."

Vega rose from the table with his tray in hand. "I better go online and do some recon on what they have on the Citadel."

"You do that. Where do you stay on the ship?"

"In the cargo bay, there are some computers down there."

Shepard nodded and Vega walked away with his tray to the kitchen.

* * *

Normandy had docked on the Presidium at the Citadel an hour later; a medic team from the Huerta Memorial Hospital had rushed in with a stretcher and secured Ashley on it carefully before quickly exiting the Normandy and heading for an elevator that would take them to the hospital. Shepard, Liara and Vega walked slowly behind them and stopped in the docking bay as the medic team went through a processing checkpoint.

"We're not going with them?" Vega asked.

"We will need to talk to the Council." Liara answered.

"Right."

Shepard walked over to a hand rail and leaned over it, looking out over the Citadel and the docked Normandy. He was concerned about Ashley and the last thing he wanted was to head up to the Council, he wanted to check up on Ashley first.

Vega noticed a uniformed middle-aged man walking towards them from checkpoint.

"It seems they're coming for you." Vega said.

Shepard turned around and saw Armando Bailey from C-SEC getting closer.

_At least one friendly face_, Shepard thought.

"Commander Shepard, I got word that you were arriving."

Shepard walked over to face the C-Sec officer and they shook hands. "Bailey, good to see you."

"You too, but it is 'Commander' now." Bailey said unamused about his rise in rank and duties.

Shepard noticed that Bailey did not sound as happy as one would think.

"Congratulations?" Shepard asked confused.

"Thanks." Bailey responded almost sarcastically. He shook his head, "Now everything I do is to escort VIPs and dealing with political bullshit." Then it struck Bailey that Shepard and his friends were just that, VIPs. Bailey respected Shepard and felt that it was a poor choice of words. "No offense."

Shepard waved it off, "None taken. You are here to escort us to the Council?"

"No, I'm only here to say that they are expecting you. But they have their own problems now with the war." Bailey started walking and the trio followed him through the waiting area. "They apologize for the inconvenience and blah blah blah. You are expected at the Council chambers. They will be ready soon enough."

"All right." Shepard told Bailey.

"I think you will have time to check on your friend at Huerta."

"Thanks, Bailey. I'll do that."

Liara interrupted them. "John, you can go ahead and I'll meet you at the chambers."

"I can have one of my men show the way."

Liara gave Bailey a friendly nod and walked away from them through processing.

Bailey turned his attention to Vega. "And you?"

Vega shook his head. "Thanks, Commander, but I'm a tourist today. I will try my best not to get into any trouble."

Bailey nodded and was about to say something to Shepard when he was interrupted by a voice in his earpiece, it was one of his C-SEC aides._ "Commander Bailey, I got a situation in the embassy quarters, I could need your help."_

Bailey sighed. "Alright, I'll be there."

"What was that?" Shepard asked.

"My other half of the job. I got to go now, Shepard, but I'll see you around."

"No doubt." Shepard said as the C-SEC Commander walked through the holographic barrier of the processing checkpoint.

Vega turned to Shepard as Bailey left them. "I'll check out all the hardware and food we need."

Shepard gave Vega an approving nod. "I'll see you when I'm done."

"Right." Vega said and headed for the processing checkpoint.

Shepard was about to walk through the checkpoint as well when he was interrupted by a female voice from behind.

"Commander Shepard?"

Shepard turned to the direction of the voice. He saw a black haired woman in her mid-twenties with a floating camera over her shoulder. She had a white low cut outfit with the Alliance logo on it.

"Yes?"

"Diana Allers, Alliance News Network." She gave him a professional smile and extended her hand.

But Shepard watched her, and the camera, cautiously and did not shake her hand.

_Not another news reporter_, Shepard complained to himself.

Allers slowly retracted her hand and cleared her throat. She had never expected this to be easy considering Shepard's strained relationship with the news media, "I think we can help each other."

_Oh, this will be good. _Shepard braced for another attempt at a smear interview and crossed his arms, "I suppose you want an interview."

"Oh no Commander, I got an even better idea. I'm a military news reporter on a show called 'Battlespace." Allers explained, "We're carried on almost all planets in Council space. My producers want me embedded on an Alliance warship, and I want that ship to be the Normandy." She tilted her head at the ship docked behind them and smiled at the Commander.

Shepard rolled his eyes and shook his head, "That's not going to happen."

Allers lifted her arms to stop him from talking and thinking. "But wars can be won in the editing room. I got military clearance and you get veto over any segment."

"No." Shepard said plain and simple. "Find another ship." Shepard turned around and walked away from the reporter before she could say anything.

* * *

Shepard had taken an elevator ride to the Huerta Memorial Hospital on the Presidium. The large patient lounge was almost void of people with the exception of a hand full of doctors and visitors. Shepard quickly raced through lab services and arrived at the patient wing.

In the patient wing, Shepard noticed two doctors talking to each other, and to his surprise, one of them was Doctor Chakwas, and Shepard walked up to the two doctors.

"Dr Chakwas?"

Chakwas turned to see Shepard and greeted him with a smile, "Hello, Commander."

"I didn't know you were working here?" Shepard did not expect to meet his old ship doctor on Huerta.

The other doctor, a male, walked away to leave the two of them alone.

Chakwas shook her head, "No, I'm working at an Alliance R&D lab at the Shalta ward, working closely with Admiral Hackett." Chakwas smile disappeared, "I heard that you escaped Earth and that there was someone critically wounded. I came as fast as I could, I'm sorry about Williams."

"Yeah, Ashley was injured by a Cerberus synthetic on Mars. How is she doing?"

"She's doing well considering, and I'm impressed with Lieutenant Williams' resilience. I'm sorry I was not with you, I could have helped Williams."

"Yeah, me to. It's been six months, doc. How have you been?"

"Good. When they impounded the Normandy, the Alliance did not know what to do with me, I was never a proper member of Cerberus, and I had gotten a proper leave of absence from my previous posting."

"So you hadn't technically done anything wrong when you joined me?"

"Exactly, and Admirals Hackett and Anderson probably pulled a few strings. But I suppose if you had been judged to be a war criminal, I would have been dragged right along."

"I appreciate that you were with me during the Collector mission. Where's Ashley?"

Chakwas motioned with her hand, "In the room behind me."

Shepard looked through the window and saw someone in the bed. "Thanks. Karin, you're place is on the Normandy, not in some lab. I'd very much like you to join me."

Chakwas gave him a warm smile, "I couldn't agree more."

Shepard smiled back, "Good, we're docked at docking bay D24, get your things and get there. We will stay for a few hours I think so no rush, not that I have any mission objectives yet."

"Yes Commander, and thank you."

"Don't thank me yet, Joker's still onboard." Shepard teased.

Chakwas shook her head. "And I'd be surprised if he had remembered taking his medications. I'll see you on the Normandy, Commander." Chakwas gave him a nod and walked away; she would go to the R&D lab to collect her things.

Shepard turned and walked through the door to the room and saw Ashley on the bed in hospital clothes. Shepard slowly walked to the bed and stared at Ashley.

"You got pretty banged up back on Mars, Ash. You had me worried." Shepard told the unconscious woman, he had no idea why he was talking out loud or if she could even hear him. But he felt the need to get a few things of his chest.

"I just wanted to check in on you, see how you were doing. Despite our infighting, it's good to see you; it brings back a couple of great memories." He sighed, "Memories seems to be all you and I have left."

Shepard heard the door slid open behind him, a doctor walked in; it was the same doctor that had been talking to Chakwas.

"Get some rest, Ash, and when you feel better I'll come back when you are awake. We'll talk."

Shepard turned to the doctor. "You need anything, call me, doc."

"Huh, of course." The doctor said, wondering who Shepard was.

"Commander Shepard, Systems Alliance." Shepard told the doctor, he could sense what the doctor was thinking.

The doctor immediately knew who Shepard was, "Of course, Commander. I'll do that. "

Shepard gave the doctor a friendly nod and walked out of the room, stopping at the door and gave Ashley one last look before the door closed, "I'll see you soon."

* * *

Shepard had arrived at the Council Chambers and met up with Liara in one of the antechambers before walking up all the stairs. He had not been in these chambers for over three years now, but it all looked the same. Liara and Shepard stopped on the extended catwalk in front of the podium where the Council already was in session.

The turian Councilor, Quentius, was speaking with Udina, "Councilor, the Reapers are in our space as well. Earth is no more or less unfortunate than any other Council world."

"But Earth was the first Council world attacked; our reports suggest that we face the brunt of the attack" Argued Udina.

The salarian Councilor, Esheel, interjected, "How do you know that it's the case? New Reaper fronts are opening up everywhere."

"The reports are accurate." Shepard said, the Councilors turned their attention to the Commander. "Earth was attacked; it is a full scale invasion."

The Councilors, even Udina, were silent, watching Shepard on the catwalk.

Shepard continued, "And it's just the beginning, we need your help, everything you can spare."

"Earth maybe suffering, but the turians have lost Taetrus. The asari and the salarians need to bolster our own defenses." Irissa, the asari Councilor, said.

Udina was getting impatient, his world was burning, and the aliens were stalling. _Shepard had been right all along, _he argued. Although he would never admit that. "We must fight this enemy together!"

Irissa told Udina in a sharp tone, "Need I remind you that the last time we fought the Reapers, the previous Council was sacrificed to protect human interests."

"True, but in the end we survived because we followed Shepard's lead." Udina was more diplomatically this time then in his previous outburst.

Shepard was taken aback by Udina's comment.

_He must be getting desperate if he defends me. That bastard, it took the deaths of millions of humans for him to listen to me._

Quentius' mandibles twitched and he reflected on Udina's words and then turned to Irissa, "And what if that's not enough this time?"

Irissa sighed, "If we throw everything we have at the Reapers on Earth and loose, what then?"

Shepard intervened and told the Councilors, "I don't expect you to follow me without a plan." He nodded to Liara.

Liara stepped forward, "Councilors, we have that plan. A blueprint, created by the protheans during their war with the Reapers."

"Prothean?" Said Esheel confused. "What is it exactly?"

Liara brought up her omni-tool and continued, "We are still piecing it together." A holographic image of the device showed up. "It's appears to be a weapon of some sort."

Esheel was perplexed, "And this is capable of destroying the Reapers?"

"So it would seem."

"It's immense, and intricate."

Irissa was not impressed, "It's a fool's errand, and the protheans were wiped out by the Reapers. Clearly the weapon is flawed."

"It was incomplete." Liara explained. "There was a missing component, something referred to as the 'Catalyst'. They ran out of time."

"Do you believe in this, Shepard?" Asked Quentius concerned. "After what you have seen of the Reapers?"

Shepard turned somber, "It sure as hell beats standing around here and arguing about it! And Udina's right, we need to stand together, now more than ever. The Reapers won't stop at Earth; they will destroy every organic being in the galaxy if we don't find a way to stop them."

Liara watched Shepard troubled after his less then diplomatically response.

The alien Councilors said nothing, only watching each other, gauging each other for an understanding until Esheel shook her head.

Irissa turned to Shepard, she spoke as she was superior in every way, "The Council cannot give Earth the military support it needs, our own planets must come first."

Esheel spoke, but more diplomatically, "We are convening a summit amongst our species, if we can secure our own borders, we might be able to help you."

"Our fleets are preoccupied with bolstering our defenses." Irissa explained. "Honesty is all I can offer, Commander. I will not make a promise of rescue I can't keep."

The three alien Councilors walked away, leaving Udina alone. "Shepard, meet me at my office later." Udina turned to follow the other Councilors.

When they were alone, Liara turned to Shepard who was leaning over the handrail. She spoke with a soft and concerned voice, "John? What was that?"

Shepard sighed and turned to her; he spoke in a mournful voice. "I don't know, Liara. I'm…it's just they're stalling." Shepard spat in disgust, "_'Conveying a summit.' _Do they think talking will stop the Reapers?"

"I don't know, John. But at least Udina is supportive."

Shepard shrugged, "What good will that do?"

Liara wanted to give Shepard a friendly hug, something to make him happier, something to stop his sudden anger. They had been close friends during the hunt for Saren, but now, after she had assumed the role of an information broker, she were much more protective, introverted maybe, she had forgotten a bit what it was like having friends and what to properly say when they were in distress.

She watched Shepard in silence for a few more moments as he stood with arms crossed and looking down on the floor, "I'll go back to the Normandy and see what I can dig up about this prothean device. Go talk to Udina and see what happens, alright?"

Shepard nodded and gave her a faint smile. "Sure."

* * *

Shepard walked out of the elevator and was standing in the lobby at the Citadel embassies. There were not a lot of people in the lobby at the moment; only a handful was occupying the hall. He followed the sign which directed him to the human embassies up the stairs. On his left he saw the C-SEC sign on the wall to the offices of Commander Bailey.

Udina had probably not arrived yet, Shepard thought. Regardless, he felt he needed to clear his head and thought that talking to Bailey could be interesting. Shepard opened the door and went into the spacious office. He saw Bailey sitting at a table, talking with a woman.

_Crap!_

He recognized her almost immediately; it was Khalisah al-Jilani, the slandering reporter that had ambushed him a few times over the years. He stopped at the door.

"There's no antihuman conspiracy here, Ms. Al-Jilani." Bailey insisted. "The Council is simply not granting interviews at this time." Bailey noticed someone coming through the door and acknowledged Shepard with a small nod.

Al-Jilani was standing in front of the desk with crossed arms, agitated about Bailey's refusal for letting her interview the Council. "My viewers are going to know that C-SEC and the Council are denying them access."

Bailey shook his head, "Listen, lady, you think I like playing gatekeeper between the paparazzi and the politicians? I don't have time to babysit them and I'm not here to hold your hand."

Al-Jilani shrugged, "Well, I'm not leaving until I'm granted an audience."

"Be my guest, I hope you brought a sleeping bag."

Al-Jilani did not say anything and stormed away furiously from Bailey. Shepard stood aside and held the door open for her. Well out of the room, Al-Jilani turned angrily to Shepard, "Commander Shepard? Humanity has questions!"

The door closed shut and Shepard walked away towards Bailey.

"Damn press." Bailey said and shook his head.

"I see you are keeping the peace." Shepard stopped in front of Bailey.

Bailey snorted, "I feel like a glorified doorman."

"Most people would see it as a move up the ladder." Shepard reasoned.

"Wedged in here with all the suits? I rather be fighting crime in the wards. I appreciate the higher pay grade, but I'm not a political person."

"Then why did you take the job in the first place?"

"You don't say no to Councilor Udina." Bailey stopped for a moment and chuckled, "Well, maybe you would, but I gotta live here. I know, Squeaky wheels get the oil, but I did not lobby for a promotion like some officers do. "

"How did you get the job?"

"Udina has become a big shot around here, a lot of ambition. He suspected that Executor Pallin was conspiring against the Council and had me investigate. "

"You found anything incriminating?"

"Enough to arrest him. When we were to arrest him I was forced to kill him and then Udina rewarded me with a promotion and I'm not sure why he would pick me because of that. I guess you never know with politicians. I hate political BS."

Shepard agreed, "I'm not a fan of politics either. But don't lose your edge, you might need it."

"I would not mind an excuse to get my hands dirty." Bailey sighed, "Its killing me about Earth."

"You and me both."

Bailey said sorrowful, "I have not been back in years and now I may never. If this isn't the end of days, we're damn close."

"You have family on Earth?"

Bailey nodded and continued troubled, "Yeah, ex-wife somewhere, and a daughter and son, the kids live in Kirkland Lake in Ontario."

"I'm sorry, Bailey." Shepard told him mournful.

"Yeah, I'm like everyone else, losing myself in things I can control. And that means creating the illusion of security here."

"You have a lot on your plate?"

"You can say that, with the Reapers tearing up the galaxy, the Council is in session all the time and diplomats are pleading their cases."

"Thought it would be calmer here."

"The war is felt everywhere, millions of people are being displaced, and most come here. It's putting a strain on my guys as I have to relocate them to Customs to screen and catalogue everyone coming here."

Shepard told him sober, "It will probably become worse before it gets better, Bailey."

"Yeah, if it ever does."

Shepard nodded, "I got to meet Udina, see you around."

"Right. Good luck."

"Thanks."

Shepard turned around and exited the office and walked down the hall to enter Udina's office. Udina sat at his office table and rose up when Shepard walked in.

"Shepard, they're a bunch of self-concerned jack asses!" Udina was furious about the Council's inept actions. "Humans may have a spot on the Council, but we're still second rate citizens!"

Shepard said indignantly, "Does not surprise me. How can they be so blind?"

Before Udina could say anything, the door opened behind Shepard, and Quentius walked in.

The turian Councilor was blunt, "Commander. I can't give you what you are asking for, but I can tell you how to get it."

"I'm listening." Shepard was surprised that the turian Councilor was calm and civil after the meeting.

Quentius stood in front of the humans and explained the situation, "Palaven's Primarch, Fedorian, is the one that called for the war summit. He's your kind of man, open to extreme solutions."

Quentius slowly walked around the office as Shepard and Udina watched him, "The problem is, he did not get out of the system when the Reapers attacked yesterday, we don't even know if he is still alive." Quentius turned to the humans, "He is essential to the summit, if the Normandy can extract him without being detected-"

Shepard interrupted the Councilor, "The Reapers are tearing us apart, and you want to make a deal?"

Quentius continued to explain calmly, "I'm trying to help you Commander. The summit will set forth our war strategy. Save the Primarch, gain an ally. An ally that can grant you the military forces you are looking for."

Shepard snorted, "While the Reapers ravage Earth."

"Udina is right, we need to work together and this is the best way to get that. Our Intel says that Fedorian is on Palaven's largest moon, Menae. Get in and out undetected and he will take care of the rest. Good luck, Commander, you are going to need it." Quentius turned around and walked towards the door while Shepard and Udina stood in silence, watching the turian.

"There is one other thing, though." Said Quentius and turned towards the humans as he reached the door. "The Council has agreed to reinstate your SPECTRE status." Quentius brought up his omni-tool and pressed a few buttons. "And there are certain…resources that have been made available to you. Good day." Quentius left through the door.

"Well, that went well." Shepard commented sarcastically looking down on his own omni-tool that had activated when his SPECTRE status had been reinstated. Although he was happy being a SPECTRE again, now he could do things his way without interference from the Council or anyone else.

"It's a start." Udina said as he walked towards his office table and sat down on his chair, he chuckled darkly, "You know, when the old Council perished in the attack on the Citadel, I actually thought we would be able to get a proper position on the Council, advance human interests."

"Well, let's see it from their perspective, they don't like us."

Udina spat in anger, "If we don't figure out something soon, Earth will be a mass grave of eleven billion people."

"I know what _I'm_ going to do. But what are _you_ going to do?"

"Humanity have done some good will in the galaxy, it's time to cash in. I'll get us funding and materials and I'll spread a message; help humanity, help yourselves. I'll institute a draft in the colonies, I'll have civilian ships armed and I'll pour resources into this Prothean device."

"Did you know anyone on Earth?" Shepard asked, surprised that he was about to start what could be considered a civil conversation with Udina.

"Many, it's monstrous to think that they're being killed, but the part that gets me is Arcturus station. I knew everyone on the parliament on first name basis." He shook his head in frustration and looked down on the table.

"Any news from Earth?"

"Yeah, constant, but it is all bad. The Reapers are destroying our satellites, our old nuclear missile silos, everything that could be used against them. We have a few quantum entanglers spread out over the continents, all other communication is cut."

"I find it ironic that you don't have any pull on the Council."

Udina shrugged, "With Arcturus gone I'm the most powerful human in the galaxy - no in human history - but you saw how little that meant today."

"Just see to that you deliver, and I'll do my part out there."

"You will need a carrot and a stick to drive a mule, but we have none of that now. Our fleets are tied down or fleeing, our comm buoys are gone and our economy is reduced to an IOU. But leave that to me."

Shepard nodded and worked hard to get the last words out of his mouth, something he never thought he would say to Udina, "Thanks."

* * *

**_Cowboy Diplomacy is a term used by critics to describe the resolution of international conflicts through brash risk-taking, intimidation, military deployment, or a combination of such tactics. It is criticized as stemming from an overly-simple, dichotomous world view (Wikipedia). Felt it fitted with Shepard's lack of diplomacy._**

**_There's a reason why Shepard is having attitude problems and so forth, which I hope I have explained efficiently (Earth burning, politicians stalling etc). And I want to do it so I can add my own writing to the existing events and story. Additional character building if you want. Plus, there might only be one person that can calm him down a bit ;) (we're getting closer)._**

**_Tried to think about what kind of hard disk space they would use in 2180's with the technology at hand, but in the end I went with zettabytes, and 500 of those is probably A LOT of information, but still._**

**_A DMR is a Designated Marksman Rifle, weapons that fill the middle ground of a infantryman and a sniper in US Armed Forces. I think I would classify the M13 Raptor as such, it is a semi-automatic sniper rifle_**

**_Quotes; Heartbreak Ridge, Transformers (2007)._**

**_I can't see a suicide mission without a few casualties. I have nothing against those lost, but I needed a few killed._**

**_Kirkland Lake in Ontario, Canada is Michael Hogan's birthplace (voices Bailey)._**

**_Thanks to those who review and follow the story! Continue to review it, please._**

**_Edited (7/01/2012): Forgot that you can't add mail adresses, even if it's within the story, so I fixed that plus additional editing._**

**_Edited (7/02/2012): Made some minor changes to language and dialogue._**

**_Edited (09/30/2012): Thanks to reader "torexile" that pointed out a vast amount of grammatical errors throughout the story that are being changed. _**

**_Edited (04/06/2013): Structure and grammatical changes. Changed Ashley's rank to Lieutenant. Made some changes in the council-dialogue to reflect that the asari and salarians are not under attack but want to keep their forces to bolster their own defenses._**


	6. Intermission

After leaving Udina's office Shepard headed down the stairs towards the elevator. He hoped that Vega was finished with his shopping so they could begin restocking the Normandy. He also hoped that Chakwas had arrived at the Normandy. With the turian home world under attack time was of the essence. They needed to get to the moon and quickly extract the Primarch. His thoughts drifted to Garrus Vakarian. His old-time friend and brother in arms had left the Normandy for Palaven after Shepard's excursion to Bahak, and with the Reapers attacking, Shepard was concerned.

_I hope he is alright._

Shepard was about to enter the elevator when a figure stopped him, it was al-Jilani.

Al-Jilani brusquely said, "Commander Shepard! The people of the Alliance have questions!"

Shepard was perplexed by the sudden interruption and intrusion of his personal space. His instincts wanted him to turn away from the woman, but he noticed that not only was she agitated, but she was distraught, upset, and sad even, something she had never been during their previous encounters. It piqued his interest.

Al-Jilani continued in the same tone after she noticed that she had Shepard's attention, "Commander Shepard! Khalisah Bint Sinan al-Jilani, Westerlund News. Isn't it true that you were on Earth when the Reapers attacked?"

Her floating camera was hovering over her shoulder, filming Shepard who took a deep breath and shook his head tiredly.

Al-Jilani continued, "How do you justify running away while millions of people are dying on Earth? Is that the best we can expect from a SPECTRE, from the Alliance?"

"I came here to get help to everyone on Earth." Shepard spoke calmly; he appeared unfazed by the abrupt ambush.

"What about all the people suffering while you play nice with the Council? How can you stand by while our families die? What are you going to do?"

_Family? Could she have relatives back on Earth?_

Shepard gauged the young reporter. Her eyes were puffy and swollen and her face was redder than normal. Shepard leaned in and comforted the woman with a pat on her shoulder and spoke soothingly.

"Khalisah, we are doing everything we can."

Al-Jilani's demeanor changed; she was shaking, almost unnoticeable if not standing close by. Her head slumped and she sobbed as a grieving tear rolled slow down her cheek; she was blinking hard to stop more tears and used her hands to wipe her face and around her eyes clean. Al-Jilani was tormented, she had not heard anything from her relatives and she feared the worst.

_All she wanted was to be comforted by someone. Someone to notice her._

"Did you have family on Earth?" Shepard asked quietly.

She sighed, "Yes. Mom, dad and a sister, they live in Cairo. When the feeds were cut…there were so many dead."

Shepard said softly, "I'm sorry Khalisah."

Al-Jilani lifted her head and looked at Shepard's sincere face and almost whispered, "Thank you, Commander."

"I'm going to stop the Reapers, but I'll need your help."

Al-Jilani was surprised, "My help?"

Shepard nodded, "Keep asking the hard questions. Don't let the Council forget about Earth, don't let _anyone f_orget."

"I will. I know we have not seen eye to eye, but I'm glad you are with us."

Shepard gave her a reassuring smile and turned to the elevator.

* * *

Liara opened the door to the infirmary and saw Chakwas unpacking boxes of medical supplies that had been delivered to the ship. Liara herself was also unpacking in her cabin, formerly the executive's officer's cabin which she had taken over. Although her equipment was different, she was setting up the server farms and monitors which Feron and she had escaped with after Cerberus' attack on the Shadow Broker ship. She had been forced to part with the majority of the computers but still had a substantial amount of hardware so she could still continue to operate as the Shadow Broker. After she had left the Council chambers, Liara had the equipment delivered to the Normandy from the warehouse were they had been stored. At the Normandy she had enlisted the help of a few marines to help ferry the equipment to the cabin.

Chakwas turned around and greeted Liara with a smile, "Hello Liara. It has been far too long. I'm just settling in and unpacking."

Liara returned the smile and the door shut close. "I agree, Karin, it's good to see you."

EDI had informed Liara a few minutes earlier that Chakwas was onboard the Normandy and had returned to her former post of the ship's doctor, which Liara thought was great, another familiar face would probably make wonders here considering Shepard's demeanor.

"Can I have a few words with you?" Liara asked worried.

Chakwas grimaced, wondering what had prompted Liara's reaction. "Yes, of course, Liara."

Chakwas motioned to the two chairs around the office table and the two women sat down facing each other.

"What can I do for you?"

"It's John." Liara said, struggling with words, "He…he seems depressed, broken even, and sometimes quick to anger."

Chakwas did not like what she was hearing, "Has he been angry with any of you or the crew?"

"No! No, he has not." Liara gave the doctor a reassuring smile. "Although there was an altercation with Williams on Mars. Ashley still thinks he is Cerberus, even believing that they have implanted him with devices. Being called traitor again is probably not very pleasant."

Chakwas nodded, she still remembered how heartbroken and upset Shepard had been last year after his meeting with Ashley on Horizon. "Yes, having someone that you love call you traitor and then just walk away before even being able to properly explain yourself will leave emotional scars."

Liara continued, "I figured something was wrong when we left Mars, he seemed depressed after talking with Hackett, and then after meeting the Council. But Ashley being injured could be a factor as well." Liara sighed and looked troubled, "He did not explain the situation very diplomatically at the Council. He's not his old self."

Chakwas reasoned a bit, "He is under a lot of stress, and I guess that the Council did not grant him the fleets he wanted for Earth."

Liara shook her head, "No, they did not. I don't know what's happened since then, he went to talk to Udina." Liara sighed defeated, "I'm at a loss; I don't know what to do here."

"Has he made any tactical errors on combat?"

"No, all is normal. Well, he makes up as he goes, but still nothing's changed."

Chakwas sighed, "He does take unnecessary risks in combat which leads to that I have to patch him up."

Liara chuckled, "Well, you know how he is."

"Yes, I do." Chakwas said sternly.

"I'm coming here, because I don't know what to say to him, maybe you could talk to him before we head out on a mission."

"I will. We can't have the Commander being like that. We can't have him make some rash and stupid decision in combat that can jeopardize lives."

Liara answered happily, "Great, thank you."

"I wonder how it began. He's been under stress before and been able to handle it." Chakwas was puzzled and shook her head.

Liara carefully watched the human doctor, "What do you think of Miranda Lawson?"

Chakwas looked up, "Do you think her absence has an effect on the Commander."

"I think it is one reason, yes, John suddenly thought of her on Mars and seemed despaired."

"I have nothing against her." Chakwas explained. "At first she seemed like a very cold and calculated person, I don't think even the Commander liked her at first. But he changed her for the better. It's surprising what can happen when two people find each other."

"Well, I think her absence might very well affect John. Not seeing, or even talking, to each other for six months can put a strain on someone. I think her presence could have a healing effect on him."

Chakwas nodded, "I'll talk to him. I'm only a little concerned now when you bring up Ms. Lawson; her feelings for Shepard could have vanished. Six months is a long time. "

"Let's hope not, for John's sake." Liara rose from her chair, "I have things to do. We will talk later, doctor. Thank you again."

* * *

The airlock to the Normandy opened and Shepard stepped onto the ship. He immediately felt happy to be back on the ship after his meeting with the Council and Udina. Dealing with politicians always made him frustrated, although he saw the necessity of politics, but the Council still dragged their feet. But Shepard understood that even though the Citadel was well out of reach from the war there were still those that were scared, and that included the Council.

From his right Shepard heard Joker's voice, "Ah, Commander."

Inside the bridge, Joker maneuvered his seat to face Shepard as he walked in.

"How are you doing, Joker?"

"Fine, it feels great being onboard her again. And these seats! Still leather." Joker smiled and moved enthusiastically around in the seat to emphasize his statement.

Shepard mocked scolded Joker, "Lets' behave, we are with the Alliance now."

Joker sighed, "Fine. Civilian comfort by design you know and I'm amazed that the Alliance kept them."

"Well, if it works, don't fix it."

Joker nodded and then said deadpanned, "You know I had my doubts about the Council, and after years of ignoring you they're finally willing to step up and tell you they just can't help."

"Surprised, Joker?" Shepard asked sarcastically.

Joker shook his head and continued in his wry humor, "Nah. But hey, they did at least validate our parking. And let me know if you want me to get them on the channel and then hang up on them, you know, for old times' sake."

Shepard chuckled, "I'll keep that in mind." Shepard changed subject, "How come you were on the Normandy on Earth? How did you save us?"

"You don't want to get on EDI's bad side; she's crafty now after I removed her shackles."

Shepard gave Joker a puzzled look before EDI's projection showed up on the AI console.

"_When the Alliance commandeered the Normandy, I deceived the technicians. The crew never told the Alliance that I was an AI, so they believed I had the limitations of a VI, thus I created a fiction that I could only respond to Jeff's commands so the Alliance brought him aboard often under guard."_

Shepard chuckled, "Clever, EDI."

"_Yes."_

"Wait!" Shepard suddenly became apprehensive about the thought of an AI that could lie to humans, AI's were not programmed for that and he watched the projection closely, "You can lie?"

"_Jeff freed me of operator control when the Collectors attacked the ship, thus no constrains force me to give accurate data. This proved useful when the Reapers attacked London, I released the docking clamps and escape with everyone inside."_

Joker laughed as he watched Shepard's shocked expression, "Yeah, we were in a rush to get to you and it did not feel right to toss the guards out the airlock. They're in the War Room."

Shepard slowly calmed down, if Joker trusted EDI, then he figured it was probably all right. He asked EDI, "Is everyone onboard?"

"_Yes, Commander. Both Lieutenant Vega and Dr. Chakwas arrived some time ago, and the Lieutenant is down in the cargo hold with the newly purchased fire arms. Dr. Chakwas is in the infirmary. Liara is back to."_

"Great. Joker, let's head to Menae, Palaven's largest moon, we need to extract a turian Primarch."

"Right." Joker said and spun around to his controls and said sarcastically, "I guess it would be too easy for us if the Council just handed us the forces we needed to liberate Earth."

Joker began pressing buttons to prepare to leave the Citadel.

Shepard had left the cockpit and was half jogging through the CIC past the Galaxy Map. He intended to head down to the cargo hold and the armory to check out all the new hardware Vega had purchased and then welcome Chakwas, and after that he would-

A young woman near the Galaxy Map interrupted his thought and saluted Shepard as he rounded the Galaxy Map for the elevator, "Commander, I'm comm specialist Samantha Traynor."

Shepard stopped in his tracks; he thought it funny being stopped twice near an elevator in less than an hour. Shepard returned the salute, "Specialist. What can I do for you?" The young brunette's accent gave away her origin; London, Shepard wondered if she had relatives back there.

Traynor just noticed that the Commander looked like he was in a rush, "I'm sorry, sir, I thought I could talk to you, but if you are in a hurry…"

Shepard gave her a friendly smile and waved away her comment, "No, it's alright."

Traynor smiled back, she had heard off hand rumors of Shepard's way of commanding his crew, and she was pleased that the rumors appeared to be true.

"I was part of the team that retrofitted the Normandy." Traynor turned silent and distraught of what was happening on Earth, in London, as they were speaking, "There were not many of us aboard when the Reapers attacked…" She trailed of a bit of the thought of all those dying. Luckily her parents were not on Earth.

"I now, I'm sorry."

"Thank you Commander." Traynor sighed, "I'm used to be working in a lab, and I never thought I would be serving on a war ship."

Shepard thought it was best to occupy Traynor's mind with something else then the war for a few moments, "Why don't you tell me about the retrofits?"

Traynor was relieved to get her mind focused on something else, "Normandy is in line with Alliance specifications now, state of the art Quantum Entanglement communicators. Admiral Anderson intended this to be his mobile command center."

Shepard nodded; "I know, he told me that."

He wondered what was happening on Earth now. It chilled his bones to think about the Reapers destroying his home world, and Anderson was right in the middle of it.

Traynor continued, "In any event, sir, I'm honored to be serving with you. At least for as long as you need me, I was only here to be part of the retrofit."

EDI interrupted them through the intercom, _"Specialist Traynor has been very effective during installation, and there are still some systems that require further testing. Keeping her onboard would be a wise decision. I would prefer that she remained here."_

"Got it, EDI."

"Wait, since when does a VI make requests?" Traynor watched Shepard with bewilderment and then the roof with the speakers.

Shepard smiled amused at Traynor when she looked down, "Because it's an AI."

"Oh, I knew it! I knew Joker was lying." Traynor exclaimed annoyed.

"_Jeff requested that I pretend to be a VI to protect myself. I apologize for the deception."_

Traynor smiled but was still processing the new revelation, "Well, thanks EDI. Oh, and I apologize for those times I talked about…" She paused, unsure how to talk to an AI, this was all new to her, but continued carefully, "How attractive your voice was."

Shepard joked, "Well, if EDI wants you onboard, I better comply. I know better than second-guess the AI; she could open the air lock or something."

"_No Commander, I would only forget to recycle Normandy's oxygen."_

"You see?" Shepard smiled amused at their banter.

"EDI jokes?" Traynor asked baffled.

"It happens."

EDI interrupted,_ "Commander?"_

"Yes, EDI?"

"_Dr. Chakwas would want a few words with you when you have time."_

"Right, tell her I'm on my way."

"_I will Commander. Logging you out."_

"I have to get downstairs." Shepard tilted his head at the elevator. "But we can talk later if you want."

"Of course Commander, it was nice chatting with you." Traynor turned to her station.

* * *

The mess hall was almost empty, a few marines were sitting at the table, eating and chatting. Shepard did not hear what the topic was, but he could easily figure it out. Shepard walked into the infirmary and noticed several boxes stacked on each and saw the doctor unpacking more boxes.

"Hello, doc, I see that you are settling in."

"Yes I'm Commander." Chakwas turned to Shepard from the boxes, wiping some sweat from her brow, "The young Lieutenant is quite resourceful, he got everything of importance. Although we can't give aid to aliens, we will have to remedy that when we return to port."

"Ah." Shepard shook his head apologetic, in all the stress while getting to the Citadel he had forgotten to tell Vega to purchase medical supplies to aliens as well. "Sorry, doc, I forgot to tell him to do that."

"It's alright, we will make due. Hopefully we won't need to administer aid to turians and quarians. And we are fully stocked so we should have supplies for a long time given the amount fire you take every day."

"Good."

"If we must administer help to turians for instance, try and get some basic supplies as soon as possible, would you Commander?"

"I will. Everything else is okay down here?"

"Yeah, it is still my medbay, even though the Alliance has cleaned it up." She smiled, "It still feels like home."

Shepard smiled back, "Welcome back."

"Thank you Commander. Now if you don't mind, let's not waste time, I'd like to examine you."

"Oh?" Shepard was careful, "I hope there's nothing wrong with me?"

Chakwas brought up her omni-tool and scanned Shepard, "No, but I want to take a look at those implants Cerberus crafted for you."

Shepard grinned, "Expensive stuff bringing me back."

"And it's worth every penny, but I want to check on your physical and mental health, just to make sure everything's okay." Chakwas was talking with a commanding, professional voice, while carefully eyeing the information on her omni-tool. "I'll just take a few readings; it will take but a moment."

"I guess a checkup is fine. No scalpel." Shepard joked as he stood in front of her.

Chakwas stern demeanor vanished with a devilish smile, "Alas, to my great disappointment nothing's physically wrong with you."

Shepard grinned again, "Too bad."

"Yes, but I'll find something." Her carefree teasing disappeared and she continued professionally, "The procedure we did for your scarring has produced a lovely, synthetic, protein-overlay."

Shepard joked, "Sound's very lovely, doc."

Chakwas ignored Shepard's verbal jab, "And your body has accepted your implants quite nicely."

"It had better, I did not come cheap."

"You are the picture of health." Chakwas lowered the omni-tool. "Ms. Lawson should be proud of her work."

Shepard was silent for a moment, eyeing the doctor, wondering if she had an ulterior motive for bringing up Miranda. "I guess she would. On another note, do you regret joining Cerberus?"

"I did not work for them, I worked for you. And we used them. We took their money, their best ship and their best people. We used them to defeat the Collectors, and now we're using their resources against them." Chakwas shook her head, "So no, I don't regret a thing."

"Good." Shepard smiled, and then thought of Earth and wondered if Chakwas had family, she was born there, "You never talked about family. Do you have any?"

"No Commander. I'm the last of a prestigious line of medical professionals. The Alliance is my spouse, and you are my children:" Chakwas sighed, "I'm blessed with close friends, but for every Alliance vessel lost, I lose one or two."

Shepard knew too well what she felt and said heavyhearted, "I'm sorry, Karin. It's a dangerous job we have."

"Yes, but we must win this war." Chakwas continued sternly, "You must do everything you can, Shepard, and you must be focused on the task at hand."

"I am focused." Shepard said a bit defensively.

Joker's voice was head on the speakers, _"We cleared the mass relay, ETA to Palaven, 10 hours."_

Chakwas looked at Shepard. "Are you really? Liara have told me that you are, among other things, depressed."

Shepard sighed and shook his head but conceded to the statement. It was no idea to argue with Chakwas, she was a professional physician and could read people effectively. "She might be right."

"Might? Or is?" Chakwas frowned and crossed her arms, but then she changed to worried instead and asked softly, "You remember our agreement, to share a bottle of Serrice Ice Brandy every year?"

"Yes. But it has not been exactly a year yet."

"Yes, but we might not have the chance in a few months, so please indulge my patience. It's my turn, so sit down and I'll fetch us some glasses and we will talk." Chakwas produced a bottle of brandy from her table drawer.

Shepard nodded and sat down on one of the chairs as Chakwas left for the kitchen to get two glasses, she returned quickly and sat down in front of Shepard. She handed him a glass and poured up the brandy for the two of them.

Shepard looked down the glass as Chakwas pressed a button on the table and the windows turned opaque, she also locked the door with the press of another button. Chakwas carefully watched the Commander sitting in the chair, he was slumped.

"Talk to me Commander."

Shepard was quiet for a moment, looking down on the floor. Chakwas waited patiently and eventually he looked up and sighed, "Having the Alliance and Council ignore me for years, it's tough you know, and then when these machines descended on Earth, it tore me apart. All those people dying, it was horrible. I pushed it aside for some time, but then it flared up."

Shepard chuckled sarcastically, "I have been stabbed in the back three times now by the Alliance and the Council; after I died, after I was brought back to life and after I returned to Earth. And of course I have to save the day again. If we survive this I won't be surprised if I am court-martialed."

"I understand, Shepard. Its tough being ignored, being called a traitor. I can't say I know the feeling, but I can see now that it has taken its toll."

Shepard nodded and took a sip from his glass, "It's frustrating you know, and the only two backups I had in the Alliance was Hackett and Anderson, not that they could have done much, they did their best. But two people were on my side, no one else believed me." Shepard sighed bothered, "And don't get me started on the Council."

"We believe you, I believe in you; the crew, Joker, Garrus, everyone." Chakwas was quiet for a moment and drank a bit of brandy.

Shepard gave her a small smile, "Yeah, I know, I have been fortunate to have great friends and companions these three years. And I appreciate it, its teamwork that gets us through this."

Chakwas decided to take a step towards something Shepard guarded fiercely, "Ms. Lawson believes in you."

Shepard looked up on Chakwas when she spoke her name. Chakwas noticed how grief stricken Shepard became when she brought up her name, it only validated what Liara and she believed, that her absence did have an effect on Shepard, Chakwas pressed on.

"I guess you two have not spoken since we left her on Illium."

Shepard shook his head and said simply, "No."

"It's a long time apart."

"Yes it is. Before we docked with the Citadel, I sent mails to the old team, I only have Liara and James and that's not enough people for a team. I sent one to Miranda."

"And?"

"I want her to join, or the very least I want to hear from her, but I want her here more than anything. She promised she would _'join up for the finale',_ as she put it." Shepard smiled fondly for a few moments but turned glum, "But six months is six months."

"You are worried she-"

"I guess a part of me fears she might not feel the same anymore."

"I always felt your…connection was strong, and there are those relationships that survive time apart, look at our aviators for instance, or the rest of the fleet, not everyone breaks up with their significant other after a seven month deployment."

"Yeah, but those talk to each other from time to time. It would have looked strange if I talked to a former Cerberus operative while jailed."

"I know Commander, but I don't want you to get ahead of yourself, Ms. Lawson could still have feelings for you. Wait until she responds in one way or form. Some relationships are strong, and yours are."

"If she responds at all; anything could have happened since then, maybe she-"

Chakwas interrupted Shepard, "Commander! _If the theories don't fit the evidence_, then don't dwell on it. She's a dangerous woman; she can take care of herself."

Shepard agreed, maybe he only needed an outlet, or someone else to tell him that. He could not help but smile as well; Chakwas was channeling her inner Mordin, playing on the salarians words.

"You spent a lot of time with Mordin I hear."

Chakwas nodded pleased that Shepard could smile again, "Yes, I miss our resident salarian."

"Who doesn't?"

Chakwas took the opportunity before Shepard could turn troubled again, "You can't go on like this; it could have disastrous effects on the mission. I know you never asked to have this on your shoulders, but we need you Commander. I don't think anyone else could get us through this, to rid the galaxy of the Reapers. It has to be you."

She continued, "And if Ms. Lawson doesn't want to be with you anymore, it's her loss. But from what I saw and interpreted, she cares a lot about you. The fate of the galaxy is at stake Commander, you going to do anything about it?"

Shepard chuckled at Chakwas commanding speech, "You should have been an front line officer, doc."

Chakwas shook her head, "No, I'm not as reckless as you are."

"Fair point." Shepard put down his glass and rose up, he had things to do.

Chakwas took the hint and told him reassuring, "If you need to talk, I'll be here for you."

"Understood, doc. And thanks. I have things to do. I was about to head down to Vega, but while I'm on this deck I can head to Liara first."

Chakwas said disciplinary, "And don't you be angry with Liara. She did good coming to me."

"I won't, and I agree, I needed this. It was good that we had this talk."

"Think about what I said, including what I said about Ms. Lawson."

"I will, Karin. Till next time. Where's Liara?"

"She has taken over Ms. Lawson's former office."

* * *

**_Edited (09/30/2012): Thanks to reader "torexile" that pointed out a vast amount of grammatical errors throughout the story that are being changed. _**

**__****_Edited (04/07/2013):Grammar and structure changes.  
_**


	7. Revelations

Shepard stood in front of the door to Miranda's old office, now occupied by Liara. It felt strange to be there without Miranda around; he felt apprehension about entering the room. He was afraid that too many memories would wake up, not something he wanted to relive now when the galaxy was falling apart and he was alone. He sighed and eventually opened the door. The room was rearranged; he did not recognize it at all. The office table and computers where gone and so was the couches, and only the bed area remained. The room was filled to the brim with computers, monitors, a large sever farm with a cooling system hooked up to it, and there was a large array of monitors on the opposite side of the server farm, but Liara was nowhere to be found.

Liara's info drone moved up towards Shepard and hovered in front of him and moved erratically back and forth, and up and down, as it used to do back on the Shadow Broker's ship.

The VI spoke, _"Commander Shepard! It's good to see you again."_

"So Liara brought you with her from the ship."

"_Dr. T'soni now refers to me as 'Glyph' instead of 'info drone 95% of the time. In the meantime, Dr. T'Soni would like to speak with you. Have a pleasant day!"_

"Where is she?"

From behind, Shepard heard Liara's voice, "Here."

Shepard spun around, the door was still open and Liara walked through the opening. Glyph disappeared to another part of the room.

Liara greeted Shepard with a smile and told him, "I was at the, what's the human expression? The ladies room?"

Shepard smiled. "Ah, I see. It looks like you brought more than the drone here." Shepard was looking around the office. They walked further in so the door's sensor did not feel their presence and the door closed behind them.

"A few things were necessary; I would be a very silent Shadow Broker without these computers." She motioned with her hand at the hardware.

"Probably."

Liara looked at Shepard, he seemed dismal. She guessed he actually felt that she should not be in the executive officer's office. Liara told him sympathetically, "I'm sorry if you disapprove of me taking over Ms. Lawson's office, there were no other room onboard with space enough for my computers."

Shepard did not respond at first, he had come to terms that the office was taken by someone else, although he did have mixed feelings about it. Eventually Shepard nodded, and then he said, "I had a chat with Chakwas just recently."

Liara was unsure how Shepard would react and said apologetic, "I'm sorry, you were worrying me and I needed to do something."

Shepard smiled reassuringly, "It's okay, Liara. One should talk about a problem rather than bottling it up as I did."

"You are always there for your teammates; listening to their problems, helping them. Too bad you have no one to talk to like the rest of us have."

"Well, that's not entirely true though, but I see your point." Shepard had close friends, like Garrus, but he did not always share everything with his turian friend. And during the Collector mission Miranda eventually became someone he could confide in.

Liara changed subjects, "And in regard to all these computers, I will also need them to research the Prothean Device. I have been forwarding the turian Councilor information on it, as well as to Admiral Hackett. In the long run it can't be built without Council support, but the Councilor won't budge until the Primarch is safe."

"I know."

_Politics, it could very well get us all killed. But having an ally open to 'extreme solutions' could be very good._

"And until we know what it does, it's too dangerous to use."

"The protheans never completed it, but did they believe in it?"

"They poured all their last resources into the weapon; I don't think they would do that if they did not believe in it." Liara sighed and said worryingly, "But we really need to find out what kind of weapon it is."

Shepard nodded, "It would be nice to know we're not kids playing with a loaded gun."

"Absolutely, the damage it could cause if it backfired is unthinkable. I'm working with EDI; hopefully we can discover what the protheans left for us."

"You don't know anything more about it?"

Liara shook her head, "No, we're fortunate enough that enough survived to piece together the blue-prints. Decoding them will require many specialists."

Shepard had enough of their doomsday machine and wanted to talk about something else. Not every conversation needed to be about the device and was curious what had happened after they parted ways last year, "What happened after I helped you with the Shadow Broker?"

"It's been very exciting to say the least. The Shadow Broker's ship? Impressive, but never intended to be space-worthy."

"What did the Illusive Man mean back on Mars?"

"He came after me; Cerberus eventually tracked me to Hagalaz, but I knew he was coming, so Feron and I loaded as much equipment as possible onto a shuttle." Liara smile darkly, "We got away after arranging an appropriate distraction."

"How?"

"I sent the ship into a Cerberus cruiser." Liara proudly straightened herself up in front of Shepard. "The Illusive man did not expect me to sacrifice my resources, as you heard him saying on Mars."

"Neither did I, but nicely done, _Shadow Broker_." Shepard teased her a bit.

Liara shook her head and crossed her arms, "Please, don't call me that, I'm nothing like my predecessor." Liara still felt uncomfortable when others used that title, even though she occasionally referred to herself as the Shadow Broker.

"I know, sorry. I guess you can still operate without problems." Shepard eyed all the equipment in her office.

"I saved what was crucial; I could not let the Illusive Man get his hands on it. My network of agents is intact, although there have been losses because of the Reapers."

"Is Feron alright?"

"Yes, he convinced me he had recovered enough so I let him work, I do need agents…" Liara drifted away, she still worried about her friend since he had been imprisoned and tortured by the former Shadow Broker.

Glyph quickly appeared by her side, _"Agent Feron did not report any injuries after the last mission, doctor."_

"True, considering what he has survived, I should probably worry less."

The drone disappeared quickly without a word.

"Anything else you have been up to?"

"I started looking for defenses against the Reapers. The protheans are the only civilization that has any information on them; the older ones have nothing on them. And we have almost nothing on the older civilizations either. I knew the Illusive Man was hunting for the same thing when my agents began crossing paths with his."

"Like on Mars?"

"I thought I had covered my tracks, but he had surveillance there all the time."

"Right, I'm glad we showed up when we did."

Liara smiled gratefully, "So am I."

"Well, I'll leave you for now and let you get back to work; I have things to do myself."

"Of course, John. I'll see you later."

* * *

In the Presidium Commons on the Citadel, in one of the apartments overlooking the Meridian Place Market, Miranda Lawson sat on her couch. She was watching the news segment on the monitor in front of her in silence. After leaving the Normandy, John had trusted her with the mission account they had stolen from Cerberus, it was well over 2 million credits so she had rented an rather quaint apartment on the Citadel, in a different name of course as the Illusive Man was not happy with her resignation so she had to hide.

John Shepard was quite wealthy she mused with a small smile. Warm memories of their time together after the mission came alive. She longed to meet him again, but with the haunting images of the Reapers destroying cities on her home world, she mournfully thought that part of her life could be gone soon. She also worried that whatever they had together before could be gone now with the time that had passed.

But she soldiered on, without evidence suggesting otherwise, John was very much still alive. The news footage from Earth was being repeated over and over again. Communication with Earth had been severed, but apparently the resistance movement used Quantum Entanglement nodes to send out news to the rest of the galaxy.

Six months earlier she'd left the Normandy, it had torn her apart to leave John behind, more so that she thought it would. After John left for Earth, Miranda had decided to visit Oriana, getting to know her better and the two of them had gotten really close, something Miranda treasured more than everything else. And that was a precious gift that John had given her, Oriana was something Miranda would fight hard for, something to live for, her sister was the most important thing in her life now, and of course John as well. Without him, she would still have been the old Ice Queen, and she didn't particularly like the thought of that anymore, she liked the new Miranda better, and would not trade that for anything in the galaxy.

Miranda had actually planned to leave John and the Normandy as soon as they had returned to the civilized galaxy after defeating the Collectors; she had to protect Oriana from Cerberus because they were bound to go after Oriana just to hurt her. But the so ever caring and loving John Shepard had asked the new Shadow Broker for help, and Liara had graciously agreed to help and sent one of her teams to protect Oriana in secret. Miranda did have reservations about it, could they be trusted? But Liara had assured her that the team would comply with any order given. Although only a handful people knew what had really happened at the Shadow Broker's base at Hagalaz, the Shadow Broker's teams and informants were not aware of the 'change of command' and would still fear the Shadow Broker, so they would without question obey Liara's orders and never deviate from it.

Miranda was immensely grateful; she now had someone in her life that cared for her, she was also pleasantly surprised what that meant, something she never had in the past. Miranda had never experienced being in a relationship, it was frightening and exuberating at the same time, and the more time they had spent together, the more she learned about kindness and affection between two people the more she embraced it. How great it felt when someone cared for you.

And then he left her to report to Earth and 'face the music'. She could scarcely understand why, she had hated his decision. Why would he leave her now when they were getting so close? Every day together all those months after the mission was a wonderful experience. They had spent a lot of time together onboard the ship, either in his quarters or hers. They had even going on dinner dates if the Normandy docked somewhere like on the Citadel or Nos Astra. They had rented a hotel room and after dinner retired for the night, indulging themselves in hours of uninterrupted love making. She'd been in bliss.

She both hated and loved his morals.

_Love?_

She'd never known love, she had never loved anyone in the past, except Oriana but that was different as she had never met her beyond the little toddler she'd saved from her father. Did she love John? No matter how many times she tried to figure out if she loved him she never found an answer. She cared immensely for him that she knew. But maybe that was the thing maybe that was the answer she was looking for?

And now her John was stuck on Earth, and she could not do a bloody thing about it. He could certainly take care of himself, she did not doubt his abilities, but she still felt a dark feeling coming over her. New footage from Earth was showed, this time from London. Miranda rose from the couch and walked to the monitor. The System Alliance headquarters for the Sol system was located in London, and Shepard was there, at least that was what had been reported six months earlier when he turned himself in. The camera footage was from above the city, probably from a news-camera drone; a handful of Reapers was walking through the center of London alongside the river Thames. Miranda tried to find the Alliance building among all the chaos and destruction. But it was to no use; most buildings across the Thames were destroyed or severely damaged. Regardless, it did not matter, these images was a day old by now it would not help.

She let out a worried sigh and returned to the couch, deep in thought. She could feel tears coming up behind her eyes again, but she suppressed them. If she had never gotten close to John, she'd never have to worry about him on this level. It would have been easier to be alone rather than distraught over his death _and_ alone. But would her life have been better if she had not fallen for John? No, it would have been worse, he had done so much for her, she had a sister now because of Shepard and she did not regret a thing.

She picked up her laptop from the table and left it in her lap and started the computer. Miranda planned to log onto the message program to see if Oriana was online, or maybe she had sent her a new mail. Reading Oriana's mails or chatting with her online usually cleared Miranda's mind and gave her a few moments away from her thoughts of Shepard.

Ever since leaving Cerberus she took precautions on leaving a digital thumb print behind so she masked her presence with proxy servers. Miranda quickly logged on and saw a popup notification that she had new mail, after starting her mail program she was surprised by the sender's name.

_John Shepard?_

_He's alive?_

She double-checked the date. _It was sent today._ She was afraid that it could be Cerberus or anyone else tricking her so she double checked the mail address. It was definitely from an Alliance server.

_He's alive!_

She quickly accessed the mail and began reading it.

**_To: Miranda Lawson_**

**_From: John Shepard_**

**_Subject: Miranda..._**

_Hey._

_I was on Earth when the Reapers attacked but I escaped with the Normandy. I had never seen anything like it before, it was horrific, but somehow I was not surprised that they would attack eventually._ We knew they would.

_The Alliance has an ambitious plan Miri, it's our only plan and it might not work, but we can't beat them conventionally. We have to fight because we can't go down as all the other races before us. I won't go down because I have too much that I could lose, and you are one thing in my life that I won't lose._

_I'm putting together a team (again!) and I want you with me, and I hope you will join._

_I'll meet the Council today, we're a few hours away from the Citadel, but I'm not holding my breath._

_I'd like to hear from you, wherever you are, it has been too long now, and I miss you._

**_Commander John Shepard, Systems Alliance Navy_**

**_Commanding Officer SSV Normandy SR2_**

_The Citadel?_ Miranda felt joyous, _he could be here! _

Miranda went online and accessed the departures and arrivals site of the Citadel control, all ships that entered or exited the Citadel, even military ships, was listed there. She searched for the Normandy and its information showed up. Normandy had left an hour ago.

_No! They had been so close but missed each other. It was not fair! But at least now she knew he was alive._

Miranda immediately felt a warm feeling of bliss radiate through her body, she smiled affectionately. He was alive, and mere minutes ago she had feared that she would lose him. She quickly began composing a message to him.

_I have not lost him._

* * *

Shepard had just exited the elevator in the cargo bay and had even bumped into engineer Adams up on the engineering deck minutes earlier. They had reminisced about their past adventures, the new ship and discussed EDI before Shepard left and headed down the cargo bay.

Shepard watched all the weapons that had been unpacked on the benches, there were still weapons being unpacked and inspected by an Alliance officer at one of the benches. Besides the officer at the bench, the cargo bay was empty, minus a few marines; some were storing weapons in lockers, while others were chatting.

Shepard walked up to the officer and spoke jovial, "I see Vega procured a lot of weaponry, all functional I hope."

The officer turned around and snapped to attention to salute Shepard, "Staff Lieutenant Steve Cortez, sir. I'm a shuttle pilot, but I share armourer's duty with Mr. Vega."

Shepard instead extended his hand to Cortez who looked puzzled for a moment but then shook it.

"At ease, Lieutenant. What's going on?"

Cortez nodded and relaxed, "Sorry Commander, there's too much to be done and I get caught in the task at hand."

Vega walked up to the two officers from his alcove in the back of the cargo bay, he had seen Cortez's reaction to Shepard and taunted Cortez, "You need to relax, Esteban, the Commander is always like this."

Cortez looked at Vega begrudgingly, "So you do care, Mr. Vega, or is that the _Cerveza_ talking again?"

Vega shook his head, "You got to chill out, I'm just messing with you." Vega turned to Shepard, "I got everything and then some for us, Commander."

Shepard nodded approvingly, "I see that." He looked at the assortment of weapons and his eyes caught what looked like a heavily modified M96 Mattock on the bench; he had never seen a weapon like that before and pointed at it, "What's this, James?"

"That's a M55 Argus, one hell of an assault rifle, but it comes with one hell of a kick."

Cortez wanted to reduce the recoil and said, "I'll see if I can modify the rifles a bit. I want to reduce the recoil, but if you want to take one out on the field, by all means you're welcome to do that."

"Sure, I'll think about it. I got a few personal favorites so I'll think I'll go with those for the time being."

"Of course, Commander." Cortez said.

Shepard shook his head and looked at the two officers, "If you want, Shepard or John works fine, Lieutenant. You to James."

Vega just shook his head at Shepard's way of commanding, it was unlike anything he had experienced in his career. Shepard actually wanted to be friends with people, and Vega thought it was good enough, but was not really sure how to react, "I'll think about it. Well, I'll go back to my weights, see you around guys."

Shepard and Cortez nodded to Vega as he turned to his alcove of crates.

"I can inform you of our supply chains." Cortez looked at Shepard.

"Go ahead."

"Alliance procurement chains are in chaos, but the Citadel's economy is still running." Cortez pointed to a single computer on the bench, "So I have this computer here connected to several retailers on the Citadel, just put in an order and we can pick it up on the Citadel the next time were there."

"Nice." Shepard nodded his head approvingly, "If I have purchased items I'll let you know and you can pick it up next time we hit the Citadel."

"You got it, but it will cost more to have items delivered to our docking bay, so it's cheaper to just buy items directly from the retailers."

"Understood. So how did you end up here?"

"I was overseeing the retrofit of the cargo bay; I'm quite familiar with the operation and maintenance of the UT-47 Kodiak, and with my experience it felt natural that I take over as shuttle pilot when we left Earth."

Cortez looked at Vega's alcove and talked with a louder voice, "Especially given Mr. Vega's love of midair collisions!"

Vega's voice was heard from behind the crates, "Hey, I saved the day, _pendejo_!"

Cortez nodded approvingly to have been able to hit a sore spot. He turned to Shepard again, "And then I'm responsible for logistics, making sure the armory and the shuttle is stocked and maintained."

"You share responsibility with James over the armory?"

"Yeah, but I think our illustrious Mr. Vega only care to maintain himself." Cortez made a point to speak a little louder again.

Vega said dry wittingly, "You know you love the show Esteban."

Cortez did not acknowledge Vega's response and continued, "And one of the first things we did was to move the armory from deck two to here. I'm not sure what Cerberus engineers were thinking, I mean; now you get of the elevator, pick the weapons and head for the shuttle."

Shepard agreed, it was much better this way, he shrugged and told Cortez, "Neither do I, now it's like on the original Normandy."

Cortez smiled, "Welcome back to the Alliance, Shepard."

Shepard nodded. He thought for a moment about Earth, and wanted to know it Cortez had family there, considering he was stationed on the dry-docked Normandy, "You were stationed on Earth, any family back there?"

"No, only child, my parents died years ago. I had a husband when I was stationed on Ferris Fields..." Cortez became silent; he was hurting over the thought of what happened, he eventually said, "I'd rather not talk about it."

"I'm sorry; I did not mean to pry."

Cortez nodded; he understood that Shepard only wanted to know him, "It's alright."

Shepard quickly changed topics so Cortez hopefully did not need to think more about his past, "So how long have you been with the Alliance?"

"About ten years, I went through the aviation pipeline and was designated as an aviator back in -76, I then reported to the 102nd Fighter Squadron, the Diamondbacks, on the Benjamin Davis."

Cortez talked enthusiastically, "Flew the F-61 Trident, man what a bird. She could dance in low atmo." Cortez then sighed and shook his head, "Although we spent as much time tinkering on the F-61 as we flew it. She's a maintenance hog."

"Okay, so you fly and fix them, and you also procure weapons? You are a diverse department head, Cortez."

Cortez chuckled, "Yeah, I got a university degree in sales and marketing. After my JO-tour I did a stint at the Fighter Weapons School as an SFTI. After that it was back out in the fleet for my training officer-tour with the 213th, the Black Lions, on the Einstein. We were involved in the Battle of the Citadel, I bagged 12 geth fighters. I was rotated out for some shore duty after my allocated tour with the Lions. I was set to 'fleet up' to Lieutenant Commander next year; they wanted me as a CAG Operations Officer on the Hawking." Cortez sighed, "Who knows what will happen now with the war."

Shepard agreed, "I know, it's hard times, but we will endure."

"I hope you are right, Commander. Either way, they assigned me to the retrofit team five months ago, and here I am."

Shepard was amazed on the level of workload Cortez had, "I'll need to talk to James, but keep up the good work, Cortez, and don't kill yourself."

"Understood, Commander." Cortez turned to the weapons and continued to inspect them. Shepard headed for Vega's alcove.

* * *

"Hey Commander." Vega greeted Shepard under his breath; he was doing shoulder presses with the hand weights. "Liara told me that the Council is not interested in helping us."

"Yeah, you can say that." Shepard leaned on a crate and watched Vega put down his weights on the floor.

Vega turned to face Shepard, "But they want you to help them, no?"

"Yes, we're swinging by Palaven to extract a turian Primarch."

"Sounds like fun, I have never been to the turian home world."

Shepard sighed, "Yeah, the Council is as unhelpful and noncommittal as they always been."

"Why wouldn't they? I mean, there's no war on the Citadel. They're talking, whispering about it, but they don't believe it."

"Ahh, was this the first time on the Citadel, with the elite of the galaxy?"

"Oh no, not really. I have been at the Citadel, but never at the Presidium. But it just feels wrong, you know, it's pretty but something is not right. It feels like an illusion." Vega picked up his water bottle from a crate and drank from it.

"It was peaceful…once."

"But was it really?" Vega put away the bottle. "When push comes to shove, they're just gonna hide their head in the sand. I hope the war doesn't hit them though, but in the end they'd rather believe in that place than face the truth."

Shepard sighed, "Yeah, I agree. I can hardly believe it myself; it feels like what was happening on Earth was some kind of nightmare."

Vega nodded, "Yeah, that's what I hate most about that place, it feels like the Presidium wants you to forget that." Vega observed Shepard silently before he talked, "You down here for a reason?"

"I'm just here to talk."

"Great, not sure what else there's to talk about, you know my service record."

Shepard shook his head, "Not really, only the few bits you told me, I did not have access to service records while in London."

Vega chuckled, "Yeah, forgot about that, feels so distant now."

"It does, doesn't it?"

Vega grinned, he wanted to see what Shepard was capable of in a fistfight, "Think you can talk and dance at the same time?"

"I think I can handle it." Shepard said confidently and led Vega out to the open space in the cargo bay.

Vega said boldly to the superior officer, "Okay, _Loco_, let's dance then." Vega and Shepard stood in front of each other, light on their feet, and their fists clenched in a defensive position in front of them, poised to fight each other.

Shepard cheekily warned him, "Easy there, Vega. Don't push your luck, with age comes wisdom…and rank." Shepard lashed out with his fists at Vega who promptly blocked them with his arms.

Vega chuckled, "You sound like my old CO." Vega attacked with his right fist, but Shepard stepped aside and counter-blocked Vega with us upper arm.

"Oh, yeah, and who was it?"

Vega stepped back a bit, thinking of past events and his former CO, "Captain Toni, he was a hard ass, but a good leader."

Shepard had never heard that name and reacted to the use of a past sentence, "Was?"

Vega took the opportunity and punched Shepard who staggered back when Vega's fist slammed into his shoulder. Shepard winced in pain but swung a punch that Vega blocked.

"He and most of my squad died, protecting a civilian colony from a Collector attack."

_A Collector Attack?_

It piqued Shepard's interest as the two where circling each other, waiting for the other to swing a punch first.

Vega was getting agitated thinking of the loss of his team to the Collectors, he was taking out his grief on Shepard while they fought. He threw another punch angrily at Shepard, this one a little clumsier. Shepard was more limber and blocked Vega and delivered blow to his left biceps.

"And the colony?"

Vega stepped back, trying not to rub his arm which ached after Shepard's blow. Vega put up his arms defensively in front of his upper body. The pain made him angrier and he snorted at Shepard, "It was either them or the intel we had on the Collectors, intel we could have used to destroy them."

Vega threw more frequent punches, aiming for Shepard's shoulders and face this time, but Shepard blocked them.

Vega was furious after missing Shepard and snarled, "I chose the intel."

This time Vega breached Shepard's defensive posture and landed a blow on his cheek.

Shepard staggered back from the blow. He put his hand to his right side and felt the warm pain on his cheek.

"Sorry, that's a tough call." Shepard said as he jumped back from Vega who mustered all his strength and tried punch Shepard again but failed miserably.

Vega said sarcastically to Shepard, "The best part is that we did not need the intel."

"Okay?"

The two closed the gap between them.

Vega snarled at Shepard, now he blamed the Commander for the loss of his team, "Because you were out saving the galaxy by taking down the entire Collector home world."

Vega launched forward hitting Shepard with several blows that the Commander either dodged or blocked with his arms.

Shepard said between punches, "You did not know, you can't blame yourself James."

"Who says I'm blaming myself?"

"Just a guess."

Vega asked sardonically, "What, you are a shrink to?"

"No. You are blaming me, or more accurately, you take out your grief on me."

Vega stopped his punches and got angrier, on both himself and Shepard. He was angry at himself for doing just what Shepard said he did, and he was angry with Shepard for seeing right through him.

Shepard punched through Vega's defense and hit him on his shoulders, "You are lucky to be alive, that stunt you pulled on Mars was reckless."

"So?"

"So, maybe you don't care if you live or die."

Vega snarled and delivered another punch that Shepard dodged, "Or maybe I'm just willing to do what the fuck it takes to end this war!"

Shepard had enough of Vega and his attitude and rushed forward to attack him. He reached out and grabbed Vega's left arm and clenched on it and with his own weight Shepard threw him down on the deck. Shepard stepped back and lowered his arms; he had enough of the brawl.

Shepard said understandingly, "Maybe you are. But if you are half as good as I think you are, I need you alive."

Vega rose from the floor and faced Shepard, he calmed down and appreciated the praise coming from the most famous human in the galaxy, "Thanks for the pep talk."

"Anytime."

"Hey, thanks for the dance, Loco."

Shepard chuckled, "Loco, huh?"

"I can think of worse things to call you."

Shepard shrugged, "As long as you know who is in charge, you can call me whatever you want."

Vega said cheekily, "Oh, I won't forget." Vega then asked, "Is that all, Loco, or can I return to my weights?"

Shepard asked his standard question to those that were from Earth, "You got any family back on Earth?"

"Yeah, an uncle, he is ex-military. I also got a few cousins that I've not heard from in ages."

"You close with your uncle?"

"He was the reason I joined, and he was also about the only good thing in my life after my mom died."

"No dad?"

"He's out there somewhere, not sure I want to call him family anymore." Vega sighed, "I'd like to find out how my uncle's doing though."

"I understand, family can be hard sometimes." Shepard observed.

"You got family on Earth?"

"I was an orphanage so I don't have any real experience, but a few friends I know have had some family issues over the years, I helped a few."

"Okay."

"So, what's up with you and nicknames?"

Vega shrugged, "It's just my way of remembering people. Some people just don't match their names, so I give them new ones."

"So I'm stuck with Loco, huh?"

"Yeah, well I'm pretty crazy, but the stuff I've heard about you tops most, it makes me look sane."

Shepard turned glanced at Cortez working at the bench. It seemed like Cortez had not cared about or had even watched their previous brawl. Shepard turned to Vega, "I take it that you and Cortez know each other."

"Yeah, he did some stint on Fehl Prime while I was stationed there. Why a fly-boy would get assigned groundside is beyond me, but the Alliance send people where they need them. I caught up with him on Earth a few months back. He's a good guy." Vega looked carefully around and lowered his voice, "Just don't tell him that, it'll go to his head."

Shepard smiled, "I won't. Well I won't bother you more, I'll catch you later."

"You bet." Vega turned around and fetched his weights of the ground as Shepard left his alcove,

A voice was heard from the speakers, _"Commander, Admiral Hackett wishes to speak to you." _It was EDI.

"Thanks EDI, I'll head up to the comm room."

* * *

"_Commander, Udina updated me on the meeting with the Council. It seems they're running scared."_

Shepard stood in front of the communicator and watched the holographic representation of Admiral Hackett.

"I agree sir; but we did present them with a number of unknown variables. They want solutions, not theories." He sighed, "But they're still dragging their feet. I'm heading to Menae to extract this Primarch."

"_Yeah, Udina briefed me on that to. Make this a top priority, he could be very valuable."_

"Understood sir."

"_What's your plan?"_

"I'll fly in, extract him, and get him to the summit with the asari and the salarians. Then I'll bypass the Council and appeal directly to their leadership."

"_Sounds good, Commander. This is where we lay the groundwork for the counter-attack. I'm granting you diplomatic authority to establish treaties with non-human races as required to support your mission."_

"Okay, but unfortunately we don't have a lot to back-up any military alliance with right now."

"_Then build alliances, gather everything and everybody you can."_

"What about the Prothean Device?"

"_Find me people that can build it, if not, get me soldiers, ships, supplies…anything you can get your hands on. We need to hit the Reapers in every theater of operations; buy us time to figure out the device."_

"And when it's finished?"

"_Assuming if it ever is, we will pool our resources and launch the largest military operation known to anyone. See it as a giant armada that will deliver the device where the Reapers are most vulnerable. We need to be as strong as possible."_

"What about Earth?"

"_We can only hope that Anderson, and whatever military forces on Earth that are still intact, can hold out until we have dealt with the enemy."_

"I understand, sir."

"_Good, then make it happen Shepard. I'll be expecting regular updates on your progress. __Hackett out."_

* * *

**_The "213th Fighter Squadron, the Black Lions"and the "102nd Fighter Squadron, the Diamondbacks", are US Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet squadrons and is called the VFA-213 Black Lions and VFA-102 Diamondbacks respectively. VFA = Strike Fighter Squadron._**

**_I was actually wary of writing the fistfight, did not know how to do it, but I pushed on and I think it actually works pretty well as I wrote it._**

**_I finally finished these chapters and can move on with the story, there's been a lot of talking :). Next up, Palaven's moon._**

**_I made some small changes to Cortez's military career. I changed it from being "groomed" to be a future CAG (Commander Air Group), I instead changed his would-be-assignment to an Operations Officer considering he is a Lieutenant and that feels a little too low-ranked to be when commanding an entire air wing. In the US Navy for instance, you will hold the rank of Captain when commanding an air wing._**

**_JO: Junior Officer._**

**_SFTI: Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor._**

**_Review it, please!_**

**_Edited (2012-08-15) Some minor changes to the Miranda part._**

**_Edited (09/30/2012): Thanks to reader "torexile" that pointed out a vast amount of grammatical errors throughout the story that are being changed. _**

**_Edited (2012-10-17): Just added a small blurb about Shepard talking to Engineer Adams._**

**_Edited (2013-04-07): Grammar and structure changes. Also some expansion and changes on Cortez's flying career._**


	8. Destroyers of Worlds

Shepard left the comm room after speaking with Hackett and entered the CIC. He sighed in exhaustion, after a day with politicians, and his impromptu fistfight with Vega, he was tired. He wanted to retreat to his quarters and sleep for a few hours before they arrived at Menae, he needed to be fully rested. With Reapers in the Trebia system they were bound to be dragged into combat trying to extract the Primarch. He took the elevator up to his quarters and despite the exhaustion he felt more at ease now than he had done since leaving Earth His conversation with Chakwas did help and he had put some things aside and could now function a bit better. As always when he had down-time and nothing to occupy his mind, his thoughts drifted to Miranda, but he did not feel the same dread he had done earlier.

After he had walked into his quarters he all of a sudden remembered the e-mails he had sent out earlier. He hoped that Garrus had responded, Shepard was still worrying about his friend. He sat down at his computer and accessed the e-mail program. He had received a lot of messages and began sifting through them

Most of the mails were of official matter; several messages confirming his SPECTRE and Alliance reinstatement as well as his diplomatic powers. After going through several more mails he morosely noted that several of the e-mails he sent out could not be delivered to the recipients, which included Garrus, Tali and Mordin. Neither Zaeed nor Thane had answered his requests. Shepard sighed and did not bother to go through the remaining fifteen mails and was about to shut down the computer to retire to his bed when his eyes caught the sender of a mail he had not opened.

_Miri? _

_She had received his mail._

A part of him feared that she did no longer had feelings for him, another part was truly enthusiastic and was relieved that she had responded. He sat immovable and was staring on the screen for a few minutes, unable to open it.

Inwardly, he chastised himself.

_Coward! You can face down anything the Reapers throw at you but not open a single mail? _

He thought of what Chakwas had said and agreed with her assessment, _'don't get ahead of yourself'._

Shepard finally opened the mail.

**_To: John Shepard_**

**_From: Miranda Lawson_**

**_Subject: Re: Miranda..._**

**_John!_**

**_The images from Earth are harrowing; I can't imagine how it was there. If they had only listened to you, but the Alliance is not known to be flexible._**

**_I'm on the Citadel, I had a look on the arrivals/departures site just recently and saw that you left the Citadel an hour ago (as of writing), we missed each other, if I had only known..._**

**_At least I know you are alive, I thought I had lost you. It was a dreadful feeling that I never want to experience again, you are too important to me. And yes, it's been to long apart._**

**_Tell me when you plan to head back to the Citadel and I'll be on docking bay D24 when you arrive._**

**_- Miranda_**

Shepard smiled. She was safe and sound on the Citadel, and wanted to meet. Shepard felt thrilled, finally something was going his way it seemed. He wanted to write a mail to her, but time was of the essence, he needed to be fully rested for their upcoming mission. He left the computer and walked to the bed, and a few moments later he had rid of his clothes and was almost fast asleep under the bedcover. The last conscious thought Shepard had been that of Garrus, he hoped he was alright.

* * *

Coats sat in the Big Ben clock tower in the Palace of Westminster. Through the telescopic sight of his sniper rifle he peered down on London. He had been in the tower for almost three days now, taking out targets that appeared below. The intense fighting that had raged across the city had died down; only sporadic gunfire could be heard. The large starships were still traversing the city, destroying anything and everything they came across. The once great city had been reduced to rubble, it hurt Coats and the unknown attackers had destroyed all military forces that had counter-attacked the city; Coats could not fathom the number of civilians and soldiers that had died during the fighting. Coats had been unable to do anything but sit in the tower with his sniper rifle and shoot anything he saw.

His leg still hurt and he had tried his best not to put any strain on it, although he had to wander downstairs to the abandoned restaurant in the building to get some food, otherwise he would have starved up in the clock tower. Up there he had been scared, he expected any time that some strange creature would burst through the service door, but for three days nothing happened, but he knew he could not stay up in the clock tower forever, he needed to find medical help for his leg, and he would be able to survive much longer with others. So for the rest of the day Coats had waited for the sun to set so he could slip out into the city. He was not entirely comfortable with walking outside with his leg, he would not be able to move as fast as he wanted, and if he came into contact with the enemy it could be problematic getting away.

Coats began his way down from the clock tower. With his painful leg it took almost an hour to walk down the 300 steps down to reach the exit, and not even in the 2180's had an elevator been installed. He stopped and peered carefully through the service door he had gone in through a few days earlier, he surveyed the area before stepping out. Further down the street he saw the Kodiak that he had crashed in. The nightfall made everything eerie dark, he regretted that he had not taken with him night vision goggles, but it was no time to dwell on that now. As far as Coats could see, the immediate area seemed clear of hostiles so he pressed on.

He was unsure where he would go, considering that several giant machines were on the other side of the Thames, Coats headed north instead. At the very least he needed to get out of the city if he could not find any military units within the city limits. He decided that the streets were too dangerous to walk through so he darted into the buildings instead, using the back alleys to move. His omni-tool was functional so he tapped into the radio controls and searched the radio net for any radio communications, but there was nothing except the VI from the emergency radio broadcast.

_"Greater London residents are instructed to go directly to the closest pre-designated evacuation sites. Pick-ups every fifteen minutes. Emergency evacuation in progress. Head immediately to your nearest emergency service shelter. Troops will be there to meet you. Bring citizenship identification and no more than one baggage item per person. Beware of your surroundings. Remain alert."_

Coats shut down the radio feed. With the apparent major destruction of the city, Coats elected not to find any evacuation sites as these most likely had been overrun by hostile forces. Heading roughly north, Coats crossed St. James' Park which surprisingly was almost intact considering the damage to the surrounding neighborhood. At his speed it would take hours to get to the outskirts of the city, Coats decided that he would find cover if possible before sunrise.

Having limped through several blocks, Coats heard gunfire coming from the east behind an apartment complex not far from him. He thought he heard humans shouting and breached through a door and headed upstairs to the second floor, clearing rooms as he entered a bedroom. The wall had collapsed and he slid behind the partially collapsed wall and peered over the cover. Below him on the playground in the yard below he saw a squad of human soldiers engaging eight alien beings from behind cover of a collapsed building.

Coats leveled his sniper rifle and rested it on the window frame, he sighted a target and with the pull of the trigger he fired three shots that killed his target. He quickly changed target to a creature near the dead and killed it with another burst of three rounds. He had now drawn attention to himself and several creatures opened fire at him and he ducked for cover while bullets slammed into the wall and the bedroom, sending dust and chips of the wall flying.

The lull in heavy fire gave the human squad down below an opportunity to reload and engage the remaining Reaper creatures. The creatures re-engaged the human squad instead and Coats rose from cover with his sniper rifle and quickly killed a new creature. A human soldier below tossed a grenade towards the Reaper forces and the frag-grenade killed a creature. The combined cross fire from Coats and the squad below quickly killed the four remaining hostiles. Coats ducked for cover and reloaded his weapon. He felt relieved that he had made contact with humans and sighed in relief.

_"Who's up there?"_ A voice from below shouted.

Coats took a quick look around the corner of the collapsed wall, the squad below was still in a defensive position but had shifted position towards the building he was in and a few of the soldiers aimed their rifles at the second floor.

"Human! Friendly coming through!" Coats shouted. He held his rifle by the hand guard above his head and stood up so the soldiers below could see him.

_"Okay, come on down!"_

The rubble from the house made it easy for Coats to go down to the playground but he slid down on a few large pieces of the building but lost balance his balance and fell from a meter up to the ground. His leg hurt like hell and he grunted in pain. Coats quickly rose to his feet and holstered his rifle. The squad pointed their rifles to the ground instead but was still wary of the unknown soldier. A large built man in a blue but dusty uniform walked up to Coats.

"Name and unit soldier?"

Coats reacted to the American accent and carefully watched the African American and said, "Major Alan Coats from her majesty's 22nd SAS Regiment."

The American introduced himself, "Admiral David Anderson, Systems Alliance."

_Of course._ That made sense, the Alliance was multi-national and so there was no surprise to Coats to find an American amongst the rubble. Coats saluted the Admiral and asked tiredly, "Sir, what the hell are these things?"

Anderson told Coats matter-of-fatly, "The hostiles we just fought, synthetic-organic creatures, are created by sentient machines called Reapers."

Coats looked at Anderson bewildered, "What are Reapers? I thought we were fighting the Geth. Some look like the so called 'husks' that attacked the Citadel a few years ago. Even we were briefed on that."

"The quick answer to your question is no. These are not geth. What have you been up to?"

"I hid in the Big Ben, our Kodiak was shot down, my men and the pilots died in the crash."

Anderson nodded, "Okay. You want to join us? We could need a new gun."

Coats looked around the playground, "What are you doing here, Admiral?"

"Remote sensors operations, we're placing sensors and beacons, making boundaries to pick up enemy infiltration and movement through the city. An early warning net if you want."

Coats nodded, "Alright, Admiral."

Anderson continued, "We're forming the resistance in preparation for the interspecies counter-attack, we're collecting intelligence on the enemy."

"I'm game sir, my country is in ruins and I want to destroy the enemy."

Anderson nodded approvingly, "Good." He noticed Coats did not stand on his right leg and putting all his weight on the left, he gave the British soldier a worried look, "You all right?"

Coats looked down on his leg, "Well, I pumped my leg full of medi-gel, but I fractured the tibia in the crash so it still hurts like hell when I stand on it."

"Alright, we will get you some medical attention as soon as possible at our base. Marines, help him and let's head to the Mako and get out of here."

* * *

Shepard was in the elevator heading down to the cargo bay, they were a few minutes from dropping out of the relay and he wanted the squad, all two of them, to be ready as soon as they entered the system.

"EDI, progress on the synthetic?"

_"We have removed all electrical devices from the platform and destroyed those. Two marines are on standby at the trash compactor, they will eject it when we leave FTL."_

"Good, but only if there are no Reapers nearby." It was not the best place to dump a synthetic, but the trash compactor would reduce the synthetic to a pile of metallic and with the computer system removed it would be of no use.

_"Yes Commander, good luck. Logging you out."_

"Thanks, EDI."

The elevator stopped at its destination and the doors opened. In the cargo bay, Liara and Vega was standing at a bench and readying their weapons in full armor and Cortez was waiting with the shuttle.

"You all set?" Shepard asked as he stepped out of the elevator.

Vega turned to him, "Yes."

"Good."

Liara was brandishing a pistol and sub-machine gun as she usually did, she preferred fighting light; Vega on the other hand carried a Valkyrie assault rifle and a M6 heavy pistol. Shepard picked his standard load out he had used during most of the Collector mission, a M5 pistol and the M96 battle rifle. He fastened the weapons on his armor's harness system. He contemplated if he should pick a sniper rifle but decided he should fight as light as possible.

Shepard turned to the others and said, "Okay, listen up."

Liara, Vega and Cortez turned their attention to Shepard.

"We will drop right into battle; the Reapers are attacking the turians so expect them to be on the moon. Let's go in low and fast Cortez, when you dust off head back to the Normandy and be on standby."

"Roger Commander" Cortez said.

"You are our only ride out of Menae and I don't want you shot down."

Cortez nodded.

"James, Liara; we will cover ground as fast as possible, we will find the local commander and then find the Primarch so we can get out of there." Shepard knew more than most than no plan survived contact with the enemy, but those where the objectives and they needed that Primarch.

"Roger that Commander." - "Understood John."

"We have no intelligence on Menae, so be prepared to fight in vacuum, it's a highly classified moon, top secret stuff."

Joker's voice was heard over the speakers, _"We will drop out of FTL in 30 seconds. All hands to battle stations, we're entering a war zone."_

Shepard told them, "Alright, let's do this."

The squad and Cortez walked over to the Kodiak, with the door on the shuttle locked, the few marines in the cargo bay left quickly.

* * *

The combined strength of the first and second turian fleets was engaged in a vicious battle with Reapers around Palaven, almost half the planet was scorched by the Reapers. The Reapers knew of the turians reputation as a fighting force and deployed a scorched earth policy, bombarding anything that resisted. But even with overwhelming force of Reapers the still turians put up a fight and hit the Reapers on every front.

Turian cruisers and dreadnoughts bombarded the Reaper ships; both forces were closing each other fast. Turian fighters from their carriers flew in and engaged the Reapers Oculus interceptors, an intense dogfight among the Reaper starships ensued as the Reapers opened fire at the turian flees with their devastating spinal-mounted guns, effectively destroying several turian ships before the turians had even destroyed a single Reaper.

The loss of thousands of turians in the span of a few seconds only angered the turians further. With the support of a dreadnought, a dozen cruisers fitted with the new Thanix gun managed to deliver the first vengeful shots against the Reapers as a capital ship broke in half by the turian counter-attack. The word of the destroyed Reaper spread quickly through the fleets; this upped the morale of all turians fighting and they pressed on.

* * *

The Normandy dropped out of FTL halfway between the moon and Palaven, with its stealth system engaged making it further difficult for the Reapers to track their flight. The shuttle exited the cargo bay and headed for the moon. The Normandy quickly left the area, engaging its FTL drive it was now impossible to track it. The Normandy would take cover behind one of the planets on the outer edge of the solar system, far away from the fighting.

To Shepard's surprise the moon had air and you could be on the surface without a pressurized suite, apparently the turians had terra formed the moon. But Shepard had still elected that they would go in with helmets on. Inside the shuttle, the squad was in full combat gear. Shepard and Liara was sitting down while Vega stood up, he observed the two who were uncharacteristically quiet, especially Shepard.

"Everything alright?"

Shepard looked up at Vega and said glum, "We have a friend on Palaven."

"Sorry." Vega stated bleakly. He hadn't known that but he did know that Shepard had talked about a turian that he had fought next to for years. But Vega could not remember the name at the moment.

_Probably the turian they're worried about._

"Thanks. Even the mightiest military in the galaxy are getting decimated by the Reapers."

Liara mournfully watched the two humans, "Was it like this on Earth?"

"Yes." Shepard looked down on the floor, he knew what was happening on Palaven and Earth was just the beginning, they would eventually witness similar attacks across the galaxy. It was annihilation on a scale that was unbelievable; Shepard could still not really understand that the Reapers could be so powerful that they could just walk over civilizations.

"I'm sorry, John."

Shepard turned to Liara and watched his friend for a few moments and said quietly, "Yeah."

Cortez's voice was heard in their earpieces, _"Commander, sensors are picking up multiple hostiles on the LZ."_

Shepard snapped back to reality and stood up with new vigor, hope was not lost yet. He said to Vega, "Let's clear the LZ. James, open the door. Both of you, ready weapons."

Vega nodded and walked over to the door controls while Shepard and Liara brought up their weapons. The door opened and revealed a moon landscape that reminded Shepard of Earth's own moon. Cortez brought in the shuttle to the ground and slowed down, hovering near a rocky plateau with a turian outpost which was swarming with husks.

The squad stood in the opening and opened fire at the husks and down below in one building a turian squad was battling the husks. Cortez turned slowly to the right and circled the encampment. Cortez skillfully flared the shuttle and brought it down the ground.

Having neutralized several husks, Shepard ordered the squad; "Let's move out."

The squad jumped out and took up defensive position outside near some rocks as Cortez lifted off the ground and quickly left the area, the husks turned their attention to the newly arrived and three husks rushed towards them. Liara unleashed a singularity on the group of husks.

Shepard noted that having a biotic on the squad usually made things a lot easier. With the husks trapped, the three of them could neutralize the husks quickly and without much problem. The area was secured.

Up on the small ledge with the turian outpost the turian soldiers were still engaging several husks as they swarmed the outpost. Shepard led the squad up on the ledge and they engaged the husks. With several well placed shots, Shepard took out two husks while James and Liara battled three others and with the devastating crossfire from the turians, the outpost was soon secured.

"Clear!" Shepard shouted into his voice module, not knowing what radio channel the turians used.

A turian solder shouted back, "Cleared up!"

Shepard and his squad climbed up the ledge and walked up to the soldiers that were behind cover in their guard post.

Shepard called out, "Soldier, I need to get to your CO, where is he?"

The turian squad leader had no idea who the humans and the asari were or what they were doing on Menae, but he was more than happy that they had arrived when they did otherwise the husks could have overrun their location.

The turian told the human, "Just follow the path and around the corner, past the barricade, you will find the outpost."

"Got it."

Shepard led Liara and James forward through the small outpost but stopped on the path. For the first time since arriving Shepard could clearly see the scorched turian home world in the distance. It was appalling and with no doubt Earth look the same now. In the distance of the moon he saw a hulking Reaper, kilometers away from their position. Its huge frame against the sky was terrifying, he gladly thanked that the Reaper was far away from them. Shepard took one last look on the planet, afraid that he had lost his long-time friend.

Liara gasped, "Look at that Reaper, its gigantic!"

Liara could not fathom the size of the Reapers, or their apparent destruction of the galaxy, she was in awe of the destructive force. It surely was a power to be reckoned with. How could they win against something that had obliterated all civilizations before them?

Liara shook her head in disbelief and breathed quietly into her mouthpiece, "Goddess."

The path took them through several plateaus and they soon arrived at a barricade, two turian soldiers stood on top of the barricade.

One of the turians shouted to the soldiers on the other side. "Don't shoot, friendlies coming through!"

* * *

In the main encampment past the barricades was the Forward Operating Base of the Menae Command lead by General Corinthus. The encampment had been set up in between two plateaus, giving the outpost some raised cover.

Corinthus sighed. The losses had been staggering so far, he was losing men by the minute. The forces under his command on Menae had been fighting a bleak battle ever since the Reapers had entered the system, but their fighting on the moon gave the forces on and around Palaven pause to try and counter-attack the Reapers. And to make things worse they had also lost contact with the turian hierarchy. His techs assured him that the problem was on their end and that the hierarchy was still very much where they were supposed to be. But they had tried to raise them for the past ten minutes now and with no luck. Corinthus had requested additional engineers to fix the problem, but nothing had happened so foar.

Corinthus turned to the young solder hunched over the computer, "Private Tobestik, try again."

"Sir, I can't reach them." Tobestik turned to the General, "And the shuttle carrying the engineers has not arrived either, they have probably been shot down."

Corinthus shook his head. Their last plan had just been taken out of the equation. He was running out of options. Would he detach some of his sappers? Or could he get someone else's troops out to the communications tower? He realized that he could not spare anyone. A gap in the defenses, wherever that gap was, could be disastrous. He did not know what to do, the Reapers were an enemy unlike any other he had ever fought.

Corinthus turned around from Tobestik and looked down on the holographic map on the table, "Tobestik, I need you to bolster the north barricade, get your team over there. You will do more good there."

The young private grabbed his Phaeston-rifle from his back and rushed off, "Yes, sir!"

Corinthus looked at the other soldier standing in the small command hut, "Sergeant Bartus, get a fire team and find a way to get that tower operational."

Bartus saluted the general, "Yes si-" Bartus looked confused over Corinthus' shoulder at the mixed squad of two humans and an asari coming up from behind the general. "Ah, sir? We have…guests."

Corinthus first looked at Bartus puzzled and then turned to witness the alien squad arriving in the hut.

_Humans? Asari? What the hell?_

He eyed the human in the front and saw the N7 logo on his armor.

_Well, they're Special Forces_.

Corinthus was well informed about the human militaries and the capabilities of them, and so knew that the N7 operatives where some of the best warriors in the galaxy. Corinthus turned to his sergeant and gave him a nod, Bartus ran off.

Corinthus turned his attention to the aliens, "Can I help you?"

The human in the black armor saluted and spoke through his voice module, "General. Commander Shepard, Systems Alliance Navy. I'm here on Council business."

_Commander Shepard, _Corinthus mused, the most famous human in the galaxy. The first and thus far only human SPECTRE. _Wasn't he dead?_ No, Corinthus corrected himself. The Commander had returned to his home planet a few months earlier after some questionable association with Cerberus, the Alliance were not happy about his _rogue _activates blowing up that batarian system. And now he was here. On Council business none the less, so the briefing he had received earlier was true.

"Command briefed me on your arrival, although I wasn't sure I could believe them or not. I'm General Corinthus." The turian answered with a salute.

"General, the Council wants me to extract Primarch Fedorian. I'm here to do that." Shepard and his teammates gathered around the holographic table.

Corinthus froze and gazed on the human. "I'm sorry Shepard, but Fedorian is dead. He tried to evacuate the moon an hour ago and was shot down."

"My condolences, I heard he was a good man."

Corinthus nodded. He could hear the sincerity in the human's voice. "Fedorian was a close friend of mine and he would have been an exceptional diplomat."

Shepard asked somber, "How is the situation, General?"

"It's bad, we're losing hundreds of men every half an hour." Corinthus agonized over the loss of his men, they were all from the division he commanded and he knew several of the officers.

Corinthus continued formally, "We have established a foothold with our camps. We're trying to flank the enemy." He pointed at the holographic map over the nearby area of operations. Corinthus sighed, "It doesn't work at all, they're pushing through and the enormous numbers of Reapers makes them immune to such tactics."

"With the Primarch gone, what happens now General?"

The asari spoke knowledgeable, "With the death of a Primarch, there is always someone in line."

"Okay, so who do I need to find?"

"She's right, Commander, I can't point you to the next Primarch. I'm not even sure there is anyone appointed now. We have so high losses that I only think that Palaven Command knows." Corinthus pressed a few buttons on the map and a map marker popped up.

"Our comm tower is offline so we can't contact Command. We've tried to send sappers to repair it, but with husks swarming the area, they have either been pushed back or killed. And I can't detach any more men. And the sappers who were tasked recently were downed in their shuttle a few minutes ago."

Shepard said, "I understand General, my squad and I will fix the tower for you."

Corinthus was pleased with the offer of support, "Thank you Commander. As soon as you have fixed it I will contact Command." Corinthus activated his omni-tool and pressed a button, "I'm updating your nav-points, just follow them.

"I got it, General." Shepard turned to his companions, "Alright, let's go."

* * *

Sergeant Bartus was engaged in a fierce firefight against groups of husks that was assaulting the tower, preventing anyone from repairing it. Bartus and two of his surviving men was taking cover behind some rocks fifty or so meters away from the tower, they had not managed to get closer to the tower. He had already lost three men.

Shepard came running from the path below and slid behind cover next to Bartus, Liara and Vega bunkered down next to Shepard.

"What's happening, soldier?" Shepard peered over the cover and saw the husks massing while Bartus two men were firing at them, Vega and Liara began shooting at the enemy.

"Sergeant Bartus. They're coming from nowhere, we can't get closer." The turian sergeant was reloading his Phaeston-rifle.

The tower was a priority, Shepard was forming a plan, they were coming nowhere behind the rocks.

"Right. Bartus, I need cover fire; we will head up and destroy the enemy. Watch our six."

Bartus nodded and turned to his men next to him, "We will provide cover fire and the human team will move up, we will watch their six."

"Roger that Sergeant!" – "Copy."

Bartus turned to Shepard, "Good luck."

Shepard nodded and turned to his companions, "You heard the plan?"

"If you call that a plan, Loco, then yes." Vega grinned at Shepard behind his faceplate.

"On me!" Shepard ordered.

There was no time to waste; Shepard rose from cover with Vega and Liara in tow. They quickly darted across the open area from cover to cover while the turian squad opened fire. A group of husks was emerging from the rocks behind the tower. The turians shot and killed three husks and Shepard's squad once again rose from cover, a new group of three husks ran mindless towards them, Shepard knelt dwon on one knee and aimed at the gaggle of husks and fired at them, so did Vega and Liara. Shepard's rounds was armor piercing and just went through his target without stopping it, the husk continued towards them fast. Shepard cursed over the bad choice of ammunition and shot several more rounds into the husk which was hit it in the head; the creature fell to the ground this time.

The two other husks were killed by Vega and James. The trio scanned the area for more targets, but it appeared clear. The squad advanced up the slope through the rocky area to the comm tower. At the tower, Shepard holstered his weapon and walked over to the console, but all he got was an error message, the damage was up on the tower.

Shepard informed Liara and Vega, "I can't repair the problem from this console." Shepard turned to them. "There's damage up on the tower, Liara you're tech savvy, get up and see if you can repair it."

_Great, thanks for that, John,_ mused Liara. "I'll do it; if you keep the husks away from the ladder it would be appreciated." Liara holstered her weapon and walked to the ladder on the side of the tower and began climbing up.

"You got it. Vega, let's take up defensive positions." Shepard radioed the turian squad further down the slope. "Sergeant, we will try and repair it, cover us."

_"Affirmative."_ Bartus responded.

Vega and Shepard took cover behind some low rock formations with the tower behind them. They scanned the immediate area in front of them and so far so good, but Shepard knew that that would probably not last long.

From above, the Reaper ships were releasing pods with husks in them, one of them slammed into the ground in front of Shepard and Vega in a cloud of dust, rocks and fire. From it three husks emerged. Vega and Shepard began shooting at the targets from cover, down the slope the turians began shooting as well. The crossfire quickly eliminated the husks before they could attack them.

From the sides, several husks climbed the plateau they were on, attacking Shepard and Vega from the sides. The two had their backs to each other, firing at the husks. Shepard quickly reloaded his rifle, with only 16 rounds Shepard had to make every shot count, luckily the rounds made a lot of damage. He still hated the armor piercing rounds that just went through the soft target without stopping them; the rounds were intended for armored targets.

Liara's voice was head in their earpieces, _"Shepard, the satellite connection had gotten loose, I've reconnected them to the satellite. I'm on my way down."_

"Hurry, we're getting overrun!" Shepard was kneeling down and firing at several husks rushing from the sides. Behind him sat Vega on one knee as well shooting controlled bursts at his set of targets. Down the slope the turian team tried their best to cover Shepard's and Vega's flank, shooting down husk after husk that leaped from the rocks and sides of the plateau.

Shepard radioed Corinthus, "General, the tower is back online!"

Corinthus voice was void of emotion, _"Great Commander, I'll contact Command."_

"Copy that General, I'll assist Bartus and his team until I hear from you."

"_Roger that, good luck."_

"Vega, Liara, let's get back to the turian squad! Bartus, we're coming down the slope, watch your fire."

Liara had joined Shepard and Vega, and the squad moved from their cover down the slope. There was a lull in combat and they quickly raced down the slope.

Bartus and his men watched as Shepard and his companions ran down towards their position. The three turians had been firing almost nonstop at the husks, taking turns in reloading their weapons as to keep up a constant barrage of fire. Shepard and his squad vaulted over some rocks near the turian position and took cover, quickly aiming their weapons upwards the slope.

Another soft pod slammed into the ground above them, with four husks emerging through the smoke and debris. The teams below quickly made away with the husks as an impressive amount of small arms fire was directed at the husks, they fell quickly.

"_Commander Shepard, come in."_

"Shepard here, send traffic General."

_"I have been in contact with Command and I got a Primarch for you. Return to my position."_

"Solid copy General, we're coming." Shepard turned to the turian squad behind them. "We're done, I'm heading back to your General."

"Copy Commander, and thanks for your assist." Bartus rose from his cover, so did his three soldiers. "Let's head back then."

* * *

A young private entered a command hut and saluted. "Sir, General Corinthus asks for your presence."

The_ 'specialist'_ in front of him did not move, he was still hunched over his own holographic map noted the young turian private. The man was heavily armed; he carried a Phaeston, a M3 Predator and a M97 Viper. It was the man in charge of the so called 'Reaper task force', whose job had been to prepare for an impending attack on Palaven. The private was unsure if this task force had actually done anything that could help them in the fight.

A few moments later the veteran spoke, "What does the esteemed General want?"

"We're in contact with Palaven Command again, there's a human SPECTRE here and the General requests that you attend the next briefing. He wants you to escort the SPECTRE and his squad to find General Victus."

_A human SPECTRE? Could it be?_ Yes, the turian smiled inwardly, _John Shepard is here._

"Tell the General I'll be there momentarily."

"Yes sir." The private turned and rushed to the General's hut.

* * *

Shepard's squad and the turian squad finally returned to the encampment and the General. Shepard and his squad entered Corinthus' hut.

"General, so who's the next in line for Primarch?"

"As your companion said, succession is usually simple, but the hierarchy is in chaos, members are either dead or MIA."

Shepard holstered his weapon and stood near the table, he spoke with a commanding voice, "I need someone General, I don't care who it is as long as they can get the turian resources we need."

Corinthus eyed the human. _Palaven is burning human, we got our own problems._ But Corinthus did not utter those words, before he could say anything else; the leader for the "Reaper task force' entered the hut.

"I'll help you find Victus, Shepard."

Shepard turned around in the direction of the turian voice and exclaimed overjoyed, "Garrus!"

Shepard recognized that voice anywhere and smiled; he was relieved that his friend was alive and well. His scars on the face had even healed some but they were still visible, and Garrus still wore his trademark visor on the left side.

Corinthus snapped to attention, "Sir, I did not see you arrive."

Shepard watched puzzled, and amused, as the commanding officer of the Menae Command addressed Garrus as _sir_.

Garrus turned to Corinthus, "At ease General."

"Of course." Corinthus turned to his tactical map.

Shepard walked over to his turian friend, "Good to see you Garrus, thought you were on Palaven."

Garrus was glad to see his friend but sighed none the less, "No, I was positioned here when the Reapers hit. If we lose the moon, we lose Palaven, so the defense of Menae is important. I'm the closest thing we have to an expert on the Reapers so...I'm advising. "

Shepard nodded, he turned to Vega who was behind him and waved him over. Shepard spoke enthusiastically, "James, this Garrus Vakarian. He's been with me through hell and back. He's one hell of a soldier."

Vega walked over and shook hands with Garrus and gave him a friendly nod. "Lieutenant James Vega."

"Garrus Vakarian, good to see you James. And you to Liara." Garrus watched the asari in the back in full armor, he recognized her through the faceplate of her helmet.

Liara smiled under her helmet, happy to see her old team mate, "Good to see you alive, Garrus."

Garrus turned to Shepard, "One of the General's runners informed me of the situation, and we need to find General Adrien Victus."

Corinthus turned to Shepard and Garrus, "Exactly, Palaven Command has informed me that the next viable candidate is Victus"

"Victus?" Liara watched the turians and the humans in the hut, "That name has crossed my desk."

"Do you know him Garrus?"

Garrus nodded to Shepard, "Yes, I fought alongside him this morning. Lifelong military man, gets results, popular with the troops, but he is not popular with command, has a reputation for playing loose with accepted strategy."

Shepard smiled behind his helmet and chuckled, "Sounds like my kind of man."

Garrus agreed "He might."

Liara interrupted the two friends who turned to the asari, "During the uprisings, his squad discovered a salarian spy ring about the same time as turian separatists did. Instead of neutralizing the ring, he fell back, he gave up valuable fortifications which the separatists took."

Garrus eagerly continued the story, "Then the rebels attacked the salarians, and when both groups were fighting each other tired, he moved in. He did not lose a single man." Garrus thought Victus was one of the best soldiers and leaders around he had ever fought with. Well, except for John Shepard.

Corinthus snorted, "A bold move, but reckless behavior won't get you advanced up the hierarchy."

Garrus chuckled at the thought of Victus as Primarch, "Primarch Victus, that should be something to see."

"We need him; we need someone that can think outside the box and is not stuck in old ways of thinking."

"I agree." Garrus was happy that Shepard saw the potential in the man. "We can't beat the Reapers conventionally and right now Victus is our best shot. And I trust him."

"Then let's find him Garrus. Where is he?"

Garrus sighed, "We got separated, and he could be anywhere. He went to bolster a flank that was about to fall."

"Commander, I'm trying establish communication with him, but with no luck." Corinthus informed.

"Okay. Garrus, take me to the last place you saw him."

"You got it, Shepard."

* * *

**_Emergency radio broadcast from Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2._**

**_Edited (07/14/2012): Some overhaul of dialogue._**

**_Edited (07/23/2012): Some overhaul of dialogue and grammar fixing._**

**_Edited (09/30/2012): Thanks to reader "torexile" that pointed out a vast amount of grammatical errors throughout the story that are being changed. _**

**_Edited (04/08/2013): Grammatical and structural changes._**


	9. Search and Rescue

The four-man squad had left the encampment and was traversing through the rocky plateaus and the small passes. Gunfire, explosions and Reaper noises were heard all across the immediate area, luckily the Reapers were still ways off.

"Is it a long way to go, Garrus?" Shepard asked, he was leading the small squad.

"No, it's under a kilometer, so we should get there pretty quickly."

"Right-"

Garrus suddenly exclaimed horribly, "Damn, look at Palaven."

Garrus stopped in his tracks next to Shepard, they had rounded a corner and could perfectly see Palaven. Until that point Garrus had tried hard not look at the scorched planet, with his father and sister there, he just couldn't look at his home world. It was too much.

The squad stopped and gazed upon the planet in the distance, and in front of it a Reaper was walking. A little too close for comfort, Shepard thought. It could not have been more than a kilometer or two to the Reaper.

_Let's hope it takes another turn._

"Goddess." Liara whispered sorrowful. "I'm sorry Garrus."

"That blaze of orange – the big one – that's where I was born." Garrus pointed to the sky and Palaven.

Vega said, "That's rough, man." He could imagine how the turian felt; Earth looked just the same. "You still have family there?"

Garrus turned to Vega who was on his left, he felt like the human had read his mind. "My dad, and a sister."

Vega shook his head, his own uncle was in San Francisco, and it was a dreadful feeling, "How bad is it?"

"Three million lost the first day, five the second."

Shepard turned to Garrus, "I'm sorry friend."

Garrus could hear the pain in Shepard's voice, "I know. Me too."

"How's your military holding up?"

Garrus sighed, "If the situation here don't give you an idea, I don't know what will."

"Well, you are putting up one hell of a fight." Shepard started walking again, the others followed.

The climbed up on a new plateau and continued walking. Garrus was venting his anger and sorrow, "Yeah, we are. But they will eventually overwhelm us and push right through. If only they had listened to you Shep, we could have been ready for them."

Vega contemplated the turians words, "You might be right, but how do you prepare for something like the Reapers?"

As the squad walked across a ledge, the ominous growling from husks was heard from below, several husks climbed up the ledge and pounced on them.

Shepard shouted, "Contact up front!" He knelt down on his knee and opened fire at the gaggle of husks, four of them. Garrus was right next to him and did the same. The two opened fire, Garrus in controlled bursts and Shepard shot of several rounds per husk, his adrenaline was flowing through his body, everything felt slowed down and he could easily snap his sight from target to target. The husks were quickly killed.

"Behind us!" Vega had turned around when Garrus and Shepard engaged the targets, he thanked his instincts as two husks leapt from the rocks and attacked him and Liara. The husks were quickly disposed of as Liara caught them in a singularity; Vega and Liara then opened fire at them and killed them. The bodies were floating in midair in the singularity and fell to the ground when it expired.

Vega snarled, "I fucking hate those things! And to think that New York is full of them." He sighed, "I should have stayed on Earth."

"I can't see what you could have done on your own, James." Shepard rose from the ground, as did Garrus. "Let's go, we have to find Victus."

The squad started trekking again.

Vega sighed, he understood what Shepard meant. But he hated being away from Earth, away from his uncle, he felt so powerless. "I know Commander, but leaving Earth behind eats me up."

Garrus asked a rhetorical question, "But you want Victus to leave the fighting here?" Garrus turned back momentarily to watch the Lieutenant. "Only so he can play nice with the Council?"

Shepard understood what Garrus was saying. Shepard knew that Garrus also wanted to stay here, fighting, as Victus probably did as well, but that would not solve anything in the long run.

Shepard interjected, "But we need to unite the races to fight the Reapers, you know that. No one will come out of this alive on their own."

The squad climbed another ledge. In the distance they saw heavy fighting, a Reaper was attacking targets and a downed turian frigate had crashed down the pass, and in front of Shepard's squad they saw a burning turian interceptor and a turian soldier attending a wounded while his comrade was keeping an eye out for hostiles. On a rocky plateau further up to their left they saw a squad of turian soldiers firing their weapons down the pass.

Shepard approached the soldiers attending their comrade, "Soldiers! You okay?"

The turian guard was startled to see a human on Menae but soon saw a turian appearing behind the human. "Yes, we will be alright."

Garrus walked up next to Shepard and asked the soldiers, "Have you seen General Victus?"

"Yes, half an hour ago, he headed south."

"Okay, good luck." The turian soldier saluted Garrus as he turned to Shepard, "Then that's where we are heading."

The squad pushed forward. Hooking left and jumped down on another plateau only to climb up to another after a dozen meters. Eventually Vega broke the silence.

"So, Loco, do you really think this summit will solve anything? That it will work? I mean asari? Salarians?" He stopped and suddenly remembered who was walking next to him. Vega said carefully as he looked at Liara, "Uh...no offense, Liara, I only meant that we need some heavy hitters."

She didn't say a word at first, she only watched the Lieutenant, but finally conceded, "I guess you are right, we need the warriors of the galaxy for frontline work."

Vega nodded, glad she understood, "Exactly, where's the krogan? The batarians?" He was looking at the backs of Shepard and Garrus who was in front of him.

Shepard explained, "The batarians are almost extinct by now, they took the first Reaper attacks, probably only a few hundred thousand left."

Garrus said, "Yeah, and the krogan have never forgiven us for the genophage."

Vega said grimly, "Right, the turians sterilized them."

"The salarians created it." Garrus said defensively.

"But the krogan hate them both for it. So getting them to join will be difficult at best."

Unless Wrex could be persuaded to join them. Shepard concluded that Wrex was a _'level-headed'_ krogan so there was still a chance that he would bring the might of the krogan to war, at least then they could have a fighting chance. Only if he could talk him into it. He knew that task would land on his table considering their past history.

The squad was on top of a higher plateau now, they could see fighting in all directions, multiple Reapers were in the near vicinity, turian fighters were flying high above them attacking air and ground targets. The landscape was dotted with crashed turian fighters and warships. To Shepard's surprise he actually saw the corpse of a Reaper far in the distance, it had probably taken many lives, warships and a long drawn out battle to finally take it down.

Vega continued deep in thought, "Too bad, I fought with a krogan once, they're tough sons of bitches."

Shepard mused,_ yeah so have I._

* * *

The squad had ventured further south and was walking up a ridge when they heard intense fighting, unnatural wailing and turians shouting orders below them. Because of all the fighting surrounding them they had not heard the immediate fighting below the ridge until now.

Liara said startled, "That doesn't sound good, Shepard."

_No it doesn't!_ Shepard shouted his orders as he began running up the ridge, "Okay, double time it people! No Reaper's taking this Primarch away from me!"

Shepard arrived first at the top of the ridge looking down at another encampment which looked similar to Corinthus' camp. Up on the ridge there were a few small rocks that provided the only cover available. Below them, the Reaper creatures had pushed back the turian forces to the huts and barricades in the back of the camp. Shepard knelt down behind a small rock so he was protected; he aimed through his scope on the rifle.

"Light 'em up!" Shepard fired of several rounds at his target, a _Cannibal_, that staggered from the rounds that hit its neck, it finally fell to the ground.

The rest of his squad arrived next to him and took cover behind the rock formations, opening fire at the hostiles below them; Garrus was using his sniper rifle instead of his assault rifle, providing long range and much more deadly fire. He shot the head of a creature that resemble a turian.

_Damn, the Reapers work fast, they're already turning my people into monsters. Fuckers!_

* * *

Behind the cover of a reinforced barricade General Adrien Victus sat and reloaded his Krysae sniper rifle. With over 30 years in the service he had never fought such a relentless enemy. Not even the humans had been such tough adversaries. Not even batarians or krogans were on the same level. He had been fighting non-stop with his men since this morning, over ten hours now and he was beginning to feel fatigued. If he had to die today it would be a good death, but he intended to push on, his home world needed him. He had lost over 50 men this day, and now there were only 20 left. Inwardly he could not escape the fact that these could be the very last minutes he would see his home world.

Victus hugged the wall and rose from cover and aimed down range, firing a powerful round at a target, a former turian. The upper part of the body exploded and the body fell to the ground. He quickly changed target, this time a husk, a much easier adversary to kill, he pulled the trigger again and the husk was ripped apart from the impact of the round. Suddenly he noticed movement on the ridge in front of them; in the top left corner of his sight he saw gunfire. He quickly moved his scope to the ridge and saw a four man squad behind a rock formation firing down at the hostiles.

_Finally, reinforcements._

Victus further studied the four-man squad; he saw what appeared to be three humans, including one female, and a turian fighting next to each other.

_What are the humans doing here?_

But he recognized the turian, it was Garrus Vakarian. He figured he could actually survive this battle now. Victus retreated back behind the barricade and reloaded his weapon.

The General spoke into his radio, "Listen up boys, we have back up on the ridge at ten o'clock high, push on and we will get through this."

Twenty soldiers behind cover, firing at the Reapers, all shouted in unison,_ "Hooah!"_

* * *

Vega was carefully shooting down the camp, the hostiles down below had finally figured out that they were flanked from above and some were shooting up at them now, but the squad had the advantage of an elevated position. From behind a large rock fifty meters in front of the besieged turians he saw a bulky creature emerging.

_What the hell is that?_

"Commander, we got something big below us, at our ten o'clock!"

Shepard had taken cover behind his small rock after taking several hits to his shields and armor, several rounds had hit him in the chest-plate and his torso was aching bad even with the armor. His shields restarted and he rose up from the ground and looked through his sight at the direction Vega had called out a target at. The creature, whatever it was, was huge and it had large armor plating protecting it. To Shepard it looked like a cross between a krogan and a turian, the head reminded him of Saren after Sovereign had taken control over the dead turian.

"That's not good at all!" Garrus shouted, he had seen the enormous creature as well through his scope.

If that thing breached the turian defenses below, they were all in trouble and Victus would be dead. Shepard ordered the squad to, "Concentrate your fire on that thing! Liara use warp!"

Shepard's squad started firing their weapons at the beast as Liara warped the creature's armor. With all the rounds the squad was shooting down range it began to stagger, other creatures below them opened fire at the ridge; moondust and small pieces of rocks began flying past them as the rounds hit the rocks.

* * *

Victus noticed a lull in the attacks; he too had noticed the huge creature. Although the squad on the ridge was shooting at the creature, he was unsure if small arms fire would do enough damage. Several Reaper shock troops directed their fire at the threat on the ridge instead of his unit. Taking the opportunity, Victus dropped his rifle on the ground and rushed past the barricade, heading for the heavy machinegun nest in front of him. He could not in good conscious have one of his men run to the weapon system. It was the only chance to take out the creatures, including the large beast. He heard several voices in his earpiece shouting at him to return, but he pressed on. His soldiers reacted instantly and provided covering fire for their general.

* * *

_What the hell is he doing?_

Garrus had been looking down the base and shot several hostiles that had tried to press forward when he saw the General running for a heavy machine gun.

"Shepard, the General broke cover!" Garrus shot a husk through its torso.

Shepard blurted out confused, "He did what?" Shepard switched position and looked down at the camp through his scope. Yeah, Garrus was right; the crazy General had slid behind a machine gun.

* * *

Victus slid through the moon soil behind the elevated machine gun position that they had to abandon when the Reaper's had pressed them back. The General grabbed the grip and aimed at the massive creature who now was charging him, the creature was large even at twenty meters away and scared Victus, he had never seen an abomination like that in his entire life. Victus opened fire at the massive beast that charged forward while other hostiles were shooting at Victus' direction. Bullets were hitting his shields and armor but Victus remained unfazed and continued firing at his target.

* * *

Shepard and his squad were firing at the charging creature, they unloaded an impressive amount of fire at it but it seemed like they did no damage at all as it just continued charging the General and his machine gun. Shepard had a terrified feeling of dread as he saw creature with its brute force being a few meters from the General, but then the creature fell to the ground, all the small arms fired that the turians and his squad had directed at it had finally killed it. He sighed in relief, although the Reaper threat was far from over, the husks and the creatures derived from turians were still shooting.

* * *

Victus could not believe his luck, the creature fell almost on top of the barrels of his machine gun and the large body was blocking his twelve o'clock position. The immediate threat was gone, but the remaining creatures were still there, shooting at him and his allies. Victus shifted to the left at new targets and opened fire at the gaggle of remaining enemies, they were quickly killed by the combined forces at the outpost.

* * *

Shepard likely got the last kill; a turian-like creature fell to his rounds to the head. He surveyed the area through his scope and saw no more targets. He did see the General standing up from his machine gun and waving at him. Shepard lowered his rifle and returned the wave.

Vega sighed in exhaustion, "That was one hell of a fight." He quickly reloaded his Valkyrie.

Shepard stood up and turned to his squad, they looked alright, exhausted but in good shape. "All good?"

His companions nodded in agreement, standing up from cover. Liara and Garrus reloaded their weapons as well.

"Good, now let's head down there."

* * *

Victus stood by the machine gun and watched the squad walking down a path from the ridge. Behind him his soldiers congratulated each other. They had survived the onslaught but they soon realized the situation and prepared for the worst, whenever it came. One of Victus' squad leaders ordered the soldiers out on guard duty around the camp, the medics tended to the wounded. The human/turian squad arrived at Victus.

"General Victus?" The human squad leader in his N7 armor stood in front of Victus.

"Yes."

"Commander John Shepard, Systems Alliance."

"Ah, Commander, I know who you are."

_The famous Shepard of the Normandy who was the in the midst of the Battle of the Citadel that led to the deaths of the former Council and countless asari and turians. This should be interesting._

Victus turned to Garrus, "Vakarian, where did you go?"

Garrus defended his actions tongue-in-cheek, "Heavy Reaper unit on the right flank. I think your exact words were, _'get that thing the hell of my men.'_"

Victus nodded, "I appreciate it."

"General, I'm here on Council business. We need to rally the races in a war summit. I've come to get you."

Victus shook his head, "It will take something beyond importance for me to leave my men, or my fellow turian brothers and sisters, in their fight."

"Fedorian was killed, you are the new Primarch." Garrus explained bluntly.

Shepard continued, "You are needed immediately at the summit to represent your people in the fight against the Reapers."

Victus could not believe what he was hearing, _he_ was the next Primarch. It was his responsibility to lead the turians, not in battle, but from a chair. He walked past the squad and when bypassing the female he noticed it was an asari through her faceplate, not a human.

_An interesting squad Shepard travels with. Wasn't he allied with Cerberus not too long ago, or was that just rumors?_

Victus shook his head and returned to what was important. He looked at Palaven in front of him. His home planet was burning, millions were dying by the day, and now the hierarchy wanted him to become a diplomat all of the sudden. His skills were war, not negotiating with other diplomats.

Victus sighed unbelieving, "I'm the Primarch of Palaven? Negotiating for the turian hierarchy?"

"Yes." Shepard answered and watched the turian.

Victus turned to Shepard, "I'm no diplomat, I've spent my entire life as a soldier. I'm the tool that diplomat's use when diplomacy fails."

"Why don't you think you are qualified as a Primarch?"

Victus scoffed at the human, "I'm a soldier, that's all I've been doing and I can't do anything else. And I don't play by the book and that pisses people off. My family's been in the military since the Unification War. War is in my blood."

_Not goddamn politics! _

Victus continued despaired, "To diplomats and politicians a soldier's passion can be deceptive. I can be seen as reckless."

"Then war is your resume. Right now we need leaders that have been through hell and back. We need people that don't think like diplomats, someone that's open to...'extreme ideas'"

The human grinned behind the almost transparent faceplate, or at least that what Victus perceived it as, he had read most of Shepard's adventures, although the supposed alliance with Cerberus was closely guarded by both the Alliance and the Citadel. He guessed that the first human SPECTRE going rouge was something that neither the Alliance or the Council was too comfortable with.

Victus watched Shepard and Garrus. Vakarian had told the stories of what they had been up to, unofficially of course. Victus saw a bit of himself in Shepard; he did what was needed to accomplish a goal, but probably had some higher moral standard that prevented him from going too far. Then why was the Destiny Ascension sacrificed? It had probably been the best tactical solution at the time, concentrating on the get-. Victus corrected himself, Sovereign had been anything but a geth dreadnought, it had been a Reaper. Concentrating on the Reaper before it did too much damage. Victus could understand the reasoning, but he did not like what had happened.

Victus nodded and said, "You are right Commander."

"And trying to unite the races can be just as difficult as fighting the Reapers, and will take just as much strength as well." Shepard turned and pointed at Palaven and then the downed frigate behind the encampment, talking swiftly and strong. "You see all this destruction, Primarch? Double that for Earth. I need an alliance, I need the turian fleets."

Victus was watching Shepard, and then his diverse squad members who had been quiet throughout their conversation. Shepard had a fire that rallied people around him, and Victus was slowly falling for the humans reasoning. "Give me time to say goodbye to my men."

Shepard nodded, "Understood."

Victus walked away to his squad of soldiers near the buildings. Garrus approached Shepard and said distressed, "Without that man here, it's a good chance we will lose this moon."

Shepard understood Garrus' misgivings but said, "Without that man out there, there's a good chance we will lose everything."

Garrus turned to look at one of the Reapers far away and snarled irritated, "Look at that! And they want my opinion on how to stop that?" Garrus shook his head and said glumly, "Failed C-Sec officer, vigilante...and I'm their expert advisor? You think we can win this thing, Shepard?"

Shepard turned to his friend and said encouraging, "I don't know Garrus, but I'll give it my best shot, I got too much to lose just to sit idly by and let them tear up this galaxy."

Garrus mused, _same old Shepard_. Battling the impossible and then returning triumphant, but this was nothing like chasing Saren or going after the Collectors. Garrus knew that Shepard would do his best and then some.

"I'm damn sure nobody else can do it. For whatever its worth, I'm with you."

The two friends shook hands and Shepard told his friend, "Thanks friend, I'm glad you are back, and welcome aboard." Shepard turned to the Primarch who was standing with his men, "Are you ready to go, Primarch Victus?"

The former General walked slowly away from his men and stopped at Shepard and told the human, "One thing. I appreciate your need for our fleets, I really do, but I can't spare them. Not while our home world burns."

_Of course not, Shepard sighed inwardly. Why can't anything ever be easy?_

Victus continued deep in thought, "But if the pressure can be taken off Palaven..."

"What do you need?"

"We need the krogan. I can't see us winning this without them. Get them to help us, and we will help you. I understand you know their leader, Urdnot Wrex."

"Yeah, he was with me against Saren, he saw Sovereign and heard his railing, so he understands the stakes. But I'm not sure getting them to join us will be the easiest task in the galaxy."

Garrus said, "And the salarians won't be too pleased with having the krogan around."

Shepard said evenly, "You are right." Then he contacted the Normandy, "Joker, send the shuttle, we need extraction."

Joker answered the call,_ "Copy that Commander."_

* * *

Shepard was agitated; he watched the asari Councilor, Irissa, on the communicator. Shepard, his squad and Victus, had returned to Normandy half an hour earlier and was now in a FTL jump back to the Citadel. He had his personal reasons to head back but they also needed additional food and medical supplies if they would continue on, especially turian supplies. He had made a quick stop at Chakwas just for a quick check up on her behalf, his torso was bruised by the shots he had taken on Menae and the doctor said it would heal within a few days.

Now he was informing the Council on the turians _'demands'_ for their participation, but as usually others were stalling, and this time it was the salarians, which did not surprise Shepard. They were obsessed with the krogan, always trying to undermine them, stuck in their old ways of thinking.

_"It's too much bad blood between the salarians and the krogans, it will be difficult to get them into an alliance, Commander Shepard."_

Shepard tried to convince the asari Councilor, "Yes, I know. But we need to try, we need the krogans."

_"I tried to smooth things over with the salarian Dalatrass. To say she's upset would be a monumental understatement."_

Shepard sighed, "Some of these issues are hundreds of years old, it's time to let go."

_"Sad to say, but any effort to ally the salarians and the krogans seems doomed to failure."_

If Shepard did not know any better, it sounded as the asari Councilor agreed with him, or maybe she was just _smoothing things over _with him.

_"And we can't waste time with the krogans, it can be a drawn out process and we can't waste that time with the Reapers already here. This must be my final word. I'm sorry but the asari will not be at your summit, we can't waste the time."_

Shepard was fuming with anger and he frowned but remained calm.

_Bitch!_

Instead of calling the asari that he tried diplomatically, "Our alliance would be stronger with the krogan. You need them, we all do."

_"I wish you luck Commander. Good luck." _The call was terminated.

Shepard snorted angrily before interrupted by Traynor over the speakers.

_"Commander, Admiral Hackett wants to talk to you."_

Shepard pressed a button on the console in front of him and Hackett showed up.

The Admiral didn't' waste any time and was direct, _"Commander, have you retrieved the Primarch for the summit?"_

Shepard sighed tiredly, "Yes, but the asari are staying on the sidelines."

Hackett said sternly, _"The asari will regret that. The time for unity is now."_

"At least the salarians will be there." Shepard told the Admiral depressed.

_"You don't sound too optimistic, Commander."_

"We hope the krogans will join, but the salarians are stalling. They don't want to have anything to do with the krogans."

Hackett nodded understandingly to Shepard, _"I hope you can make this alliance work. Anything else you want to discuss?"_

"How do you see us winning this war?"

_"By making you tip of that spear."_

"I'm flattered, but the Normandy is just one ship."

_"But a fast one, you hit your target quickly and are away before the enemy knows what hit them. Plus you are a symbol."_

_Of course, Shepard saves the day. Again. The alliance ignores me, toss me into jail and expect me to fix all problems when the shit hits the fan. __Nothing ever changes._

Hackett continued_, "We have to do this like a guerilla war, hit their soft spots and avoid them where they are strong. We can't take them in a frontal assault."_

"How long can we keep on doing that?"

_"As long as it takes, in reality what I'm doing as a delaying action for you. Get me that alliance, and I'll get that prothean device to fire."_

_About that device_, "Have you figured out what it does?"

_"No. With the exception that it is a big weapon, we have no idea what it is. But it will be one hell of an undertaking to build it._

"I just wished I knew what it was; it feels dangerous not knowing what it will do."

_"I agree with you Commander, that thing scares the hell out of me. But it is our only option. You know, when they built the first atomic bombs during world war two, they thought the bombs would ignite Earth's atmosphere, but they went ahead anyway."_

"Alright. Nothing more sir."

_"Keep me posted Commander. Hackett out."_

* * *

Shepard entered the War Room and saw Victus standing over the holographic circular table.

Victus saw Shepard approaching and turned to him, "Commander, I thank you for letting me use the ship and for accepting my plan. Vakarian went to the ship's forward batteries, something about calibrations."

Shepard chuckled, "That's our Garrus alright." Shepard was silent for a moment and then sighed as his face took on a bitter expression, "The asari won't be joining us, they don't believe in an alliance with the krogans. They think there's too much blood between the salarians and the krogans."

"The asari Councilor could be alright, but if we don't get the krogans onboard I don't know what happens. The sooner we can get this summit together, the sooner we will know."

"Any timeframe?"

"We have sent out feelers to the krogan, we will know soon enough, but the salarians are being cautious. There's a lot of work finding a neutral ground and getting everyone there. A week I would say. Anything else I can help you with?"

"What happens on Palaven?"

"Our losses are staggering, the Reapers are destroying everything in their way."

Shepard said sober, "They're doing the same on my planet."

"The strategist inside me admires their brutality. The turian in me knows I'm watching the destruction of fifteen thousand years of civilizations." Victus sighed, "My civilization."

"Are you settling in alright as the new Primarch?"

Victus evenly replied, "It's not what I suspected. And leaving the fight and reading about it light years away just doesn't seem alright."

Shepard nodded solemnly, "I understand, leaving Earth to save it was difficult. One of the hardest things I ever did."

"I'm not surprised, Garrus speaks highly of you. You never asked to be a leader, yet your people will die if you refuse. Let's hope the spirits grant us the strength to see it through."

Shepard said sincerely, "Thank you Primarch, my thoughts are with Palaven."

The turian was as equally sincere, "And so are mine with Earth."

* * *

Shepard walked to his private terminal at the galaxy map and called out for EDI, "EDI, is the synthetic spaced?"

_"Affirmative Shepard."_

"Good, that will be all."

_"Logging you out Commander."_

Joker's voice was heard as afterwards, he had heard the exchange, _"To bad Commander, we could have downloaded EDI to it."_

Shepard chuckled, "I bet you would have liked that."

Joker defensively tried to avert the apparent jab at his deviant thoughts, _"I meant that she could have been a useful combat platform."_

"Of course you did." Shepard said sarcastic and began working at his private terminal.

He noted a e-amil from Ashley; apparently Udina was offering her the spot as a SPECTRE. Shepard was surprised at this, it came from nowhere, but he guessed the Council needed everyone, and Udina wanted humans as SPECTRE's. He figured she would be a good enough candidate. He decided he would go and talk to Ashley after they had docked at the Citadel; they needed to clear the air. He was contemplating if he should come clean regarding Miranda and him. But he decided against it, it could do some mental damage and Ashley needed to recuperate from her injures without additional harm. They had not parted in good terms or even properly for that matter.

He shook away those thoughts. He did not regret anything, Ashley had made her motivations and emotions apparent last year and he moved on to someone better. Shepard began writing a new e-mail to Miranda, telling her when he was expected to arrive, they were seven hours away. At least her mail had been on the positive side, he felt encouraged now that they still shared something.

* * *

_"Two of our dreadnoughts have been lost in the matter of hours!"_ Victus' distraught voice was heard through the forward batteries when Shepard entered the room, he wanted to talk to his friend.

On the other end of the room stood Garrus over the weapons computer. Shepard decided to wait at the weapons bench, leaning against the wall.

Garrus sounded as distraught as Victus, "I know Primarch, I saw the same numbers myself. They don't look good."

_"We have to turn this around. Fast."_

"Well, you can trust Shepard. If anyone can get the krogans to cooperate, it's him."

Shepard smiled and shook his head a bit at Garrus' praise. At least someone believed in him, but he could not shake the fact that it looked grim. He probably had to cure the genophage to get Wrex onboard. And if Mordin could not be found it could get tricky, the salarians would not be aiding, that he knew.

_"Let's just hope his friendship with Urdnot Wrex counts for something."_

Garrus tried to reassure his Primarch and spoke evenly, "I'm sure it will, sir."

Shepard approached Garrus and tried to lighten the mood a bit and joked, "You do know that the gun is properly interfaced with the Normandy, right?" Shepard leaned on the weapon next to Garrus.

Garrus could not help but chuckle, "Probably, but I think someone somewhere have messed it up." He sighed and turned to Shepard, "But the real reason is that tinkering with it keeps my mind occupied."

Shepard nodded, "I understand Garrus. How are you holding up?"

"Well truth to be told, I'm not sure I should have left, not that I don't appreciate seeing you again and to fight next to you, it's just…" Garrus trailed off.

Shepard said somber, "Yeah, millions of people are dying on Earth also, and here I am and somehow I survived."

"Being right about the Reapers don't feel like a victory, does it?"

Shepard shook his head, "No. But both you and I knew this fight would be tough."

"Why did you even turn yourself over? What good did it do?"

"Hackett said there could very well be a war with the batarians over the Alpha Relay, it would smooth things over." Shepard sighed, in hindsight he regretted it but being on odds with the Alliance were not the smartest thing with the Reapers coming. Although the prospect of war could have had everyone on edge and being able to respond to the Reapers quicker. Or not. He would never know.

"At least my government listened to me, or pretended to."

"What happened after you left Normandy?"

"I needed to do something; time was running out after you blew up that system. I needed to talk to the government so I went to my father, told him everything from Saren to the Collectors and their masters."

"That's a hell of a story."

"Oh yeah, the stuff we have seen; meeting Vigil, talking to Sovereign and then Harbinger and his minions. But dad listened and connected the dots like the C-Sec detective he was. He and Fedorian were old friends so he told him the same story." Garrus shook his head, "The Primarch did not believe him, but dad pushed and eventually Fedorian released resources."

"Your task force, what did you do?"

Garrus nodded, "Yeah we did all we could; hardened communications, improved our early warning networks and expanded emergency stockpiles across our colonies."

"At least you accomplished more than I did, the Alliance didn't do much despite hours and hours of debriefing and telling them everything."

Garrus shook his head in disbelief, "They stabbed you in the back three times John, and now they beg you to save them."

Shepard chuckled darkly, "Yes, and they will probably court-martial me after the war."

The two shared a laugh, Garrus would not be surprised if that did happen, he hoped not though. If they got out of this alive and won the war, Shepard deserved some peace and not having to save the galaxy over and over.

"Shep, how are _you_ holding up?"

To Garrus' surprise Shepard actually smiled, "Better than a day ago."

"Oh? I hope it's not because of me Shep." Garrus mandibles twitched into a turian grin.

Shepard said smartly, "Don't flatter yourself Vakarian."

Shepard was silent for a few moments, his expression changed to a little more serious. Garrus was someone he trusted, a close friend, and he knew about Miranda and him. It was not that he did not trust Garrus, he only felt that if Miranda would join him, it was probably for the best if Hackett and the surviving Alliance Command did not know anything about their relationship and that she was onboard. At least for a while. Keeping it secret would probably not last for long, but easing everyone in to it was better. He needed to tread lightly, even though he was a SPECTRE, there were enough double crosses and political bull going on that he did not need to add any drama.

Shepard faintly smiled, "Miranda is on the Citadel."

Garrus nodded, as everyone had figured out towards the end of the Collector Mission, Shepard and Miranda had become closer, and Garrus had his misgivings about it. A cold and calculated person, he could not fathom what Shepard saw in Lawson, but his friend had seemed happy so Garrus was fine with it. He knew well enough about humans that she was attractive. But Garrus did not fully trust anyone from Cerberus, and especially their former XO, so he had been cautious. Jacob was a good man, but he was not the loyalist that believed fully in Cerberus. His death on the Collector Base had hit Garrus hard as well, they got along alright and seeing friends die the way Jacob did was nothing anyone forgot quickly.

He suspected Shepard's higher spirits did have something to do with the former Cerberus Operative before he had even said anything. Garrus and Shepard were close friends, but the human had been cautious about him and Lawson. Garrus actually had to admit that he respected the woman after she had resigned from the organization on the Collector Base.

Garrus asked, "That's the reason we are heading to the Citadel?"

Shepard shook his head, "Not entirely, but that's a personal reason."

"How is Williams?" Garrus had heard from Liara on after they docked with the Normandy about the mission on Mars and that Williams had been injured.

"I actually got a mail from her, she's doing well on the hospital, figured I would go and say hi to her after we hit the Citadel."

"I hope we are going to pick up some turian food as well, I have to live on my MRE's for now."

"Ah, poor Garrus." Shepard smirked.

Garrus rolled his eyes, "Whatever, they're running out."

"I'll see what we can do. But we have no chef so making food is up to each and every one, we have to carry our own load around the kitchen."

"I'll keep that in mind." Garrus reminisced about their previous missions, "It's not like the good old days; we had a cook and a rogue SPECTRE and a former C-Sec officer was shooting up the place." Garrus observed the extraordinary situation, "We're actually respectable now."

Shepard observed dejected, "That respect will come with a lot of sleepless nights. I don't even want to know how many lives depend on us."

"Well, when things are looking grim - and I'm pretty sure they will - just remember that a certain turian friend of yours is not sleeping any better, and he'd be more than happy to head to the bar and drink you under the table."

Shepard smiled, "Thanks, I might take you up on that. For what it is worth, it's damned good to have you back."

"I would not miss this fight for anything."

* * *

**_They never mention if there are any more human SPECTRE's so I decided that Shepard is the only one in service._**

**_Coming up; reunion with a certain someone and an original mission (gasp!)_**

**_Thanks for reviewing and following my story, keep them coming._**

**_Edited (07/14/2012): Minor overhaul of dialogue._**

**_Edited (07/21/2012): Grammar fix_**

**_Edited (09/30/2012): Thanks to reader "torexile" that pointed out a vast amount of grammatical errors throughout the story that are being changed. _**

**_Edited (04/12/2013):Grammatical and structural changes._**


	10. Femme Fatale

"You got to be shitting me!" Vega gasped in surprise looking at Garrus in front of him.

They were sitting at one of the tables in the mess hall, eating breakfast with only an hour or so before they would emerge from FTL flight in the Widow System and the Citadel. Next to Vega sat Traynor in disbelief to, they had been listening intently on Garrus' storytelling. Vega had asked about the craziest they had done during the Collector mission and Garrus asked deadpanned, _'which one do you want to hear about?'_

Garrus shrugged smugly, "Well, it wasn't the first time we took down a thresher maw."

"You took down two?" It was Traynor's turn to gasp.

Garrus continued unfazed by the humans reactions, he was enjoying this, "During our hunt for Saren we took a detour, a favor for your Admiral Kahoku, a team of marines was missing and we landed on some planet - can't remember the name - we found the marines with a distress beacon perfectly placed onto a thresher maw nest. We fought it in a Mako, it was insane. Apparently it was a Cerberus trap of some sort."

"Christ! He told me some stories in London, but not of that thresher maw. And he was not as detailed, it was more; '_we hit something, killed a bunch of people and then left.'"_

Garrus chuckled, "Our hero is a very modest man, Vega."

"I can see that. A Cerberus trap?"

Garrus nodded, "Doing experiments of some sort."

"So who took down the thresher maw in the Mako?" Traynor asked.

Garrus boasted, "I sat in the gunner's seat and took it out."

It was Vega's turn to talk with intent of trying to shoot down Garrus' swagger, "Impressive. And who took out the one on foot?"

"We're not entirely sure." Garrus said deep in thought. "Shepard fired the last shots so he probably took it down. But that was a shared kill."

Vega stated sarcastically, "Of course it was a shared kill."

Garrus only shook his head at the comment.

"How was the team?" Traynor asked as she drank her coffee.

"Everything was a bit awkward at first with the Cerberus lackeys and other crazies, but there were thirteen of us and towards the end there was a lot of respect for each other."

Garrus wasn't comfortable with the current size of the team, but they had to make due. After serving with that large number of team mates on the previous mission, Garrus had become accustomed with that. He hoped that Shepard could rally enough of their former comrades.

"You lost two." Observed Traynor, remembering the plaque at the elevator, two names that were not Alliance had been added; Taylor and Kasumi.

Garrus only nodded to the statement.

Vega tried cautiously, "So Cerberus, you trusted them?"

"No one really trusted the Cerberus crew, they were alright of course, they behaved. Both Shepard and I warmed up to Taylor eventually; as he was uncomfortable with the organization's checkered past he was alright."

"Must have been a very strange situation seeing as you guys took down a few cells back in -83."

"Oh, it was. But the Illusive Man was big on forgiveness last year it seemed. Of course his ulterior motive was getting access to the Collector base; luckily we blew it to kingdom come."

"The Cerberus crew couldn't have been too happy about that."

"At that time they did not care. The Collectors had captured the entire crew during an off world mission before we hit the Omega 4 Relay, the only Cerberus Operatives on the team was Taylor and Lawson when we went through Omega 4."

Traynor asked, "And Lawson was?"

"Miranda Lawson, the XO, put in position by the Illusive Man and was his right hand on the ship. Pushing the Cerberus agenda and making sure Shepard would do his job. Cold, calculated. Ice Queen was a derogatory nickname for her by many, especially the ship's crew. She did not make a lot of friends on the ship." Garrus did not elaborate further, Shepard and he were close friends and he did not intend to destroy that trust by gossiping about his relationship with Lawson. Garrus was still baffled with what Shepard saw in her. Shepard changed a lot of people on that team so he figured it was safe to assume that he got to know the real person behind that icy exterior.

Traynor continued after a few moments of silence, she could see that Garrus was thinking, "And what did they say about blowing up the Collector base, defying the Illusive Man?"

Garrus chuckled, "For the big finale Shepard brought me, Lawson and Taylor on the team. We battled through the Collectors and finally the Reaper-larva thing. And then we began to set charges. And you know what? The Illusive Man called just in time."

Vega was listening with great interest, focused on the turians word. Hearing about the mission was immersive, "What did he want?"

"The base of course. A holographic projection of him emerged from Lawson's omni-tool. Upon till that point I was not convinced of Lawson, she was a loyalist to the core. But Shepard had changed her. He have an effect on people."

"How did he do th-" Began Traynor before Garrus continued.

"Instead of blowing up the thing he wanted to set up a charge that purged the base but kept it intact. John refused. So the Illusive Man ordered Lawson and Taylor to stop Shepard, they refused too. They had understood what a corruptible and wicked organization their beloved Cerberus was - what the Illusive Man was - so Lawson shut down the communication and we proceeded to blow up the base. I can confess that I respected her a bit after that decision."

Once again Vega was astonished, "Son of a bitch! The Commander is good. Converting two Cerberus flunkies to his cause is out of this world."

"He has is moments." Garrus said satisfied.

From behind Garrus they heard Shepard's jovial voice, "Are you telling stories about me, Garrus?"

Garrus turned to the sound of his friend as he walked past the corner.

Traynor and Vega greeted the Commander as he sat down next to Garrus.

"Well, I thought it would be good for them to hear about our adventures if we would ever pick up any of the others."

Shepard and Garrus shared a silent look. Garrus was at the moment the only one who knew about Shepard's private reasons for docking at the Citadel. The official reasons were of course to visit Ashley as she had woken up and also getting additional supplies.

"I'm sorry about the losses." Traynor said, she was uncomfortable about the sudden silence.

Shepard turned to Traynor and said gloomy, "Yeah, Jacob was a good friend, so was Kasumi."

"It was a diverse team as I understand it." Vega observed. "Did you take everyone out on missions? I bet you could destroy anything in your path."

"It depended on the threat picture. When we fought the Collectors on Horizon I had everyone with me. Although we did not have a full complement at that time. Other times I would take a handful. Whenever there was a possibility that we would encounter Collectors I brought everyone"

"I was on Horizon when the Collectors attacked."

The three males watched Traynor with surprise.

"You were?" Garrus asked.

"Yes, my home planet. I was visiting my parents."

"But your accent is clearly London." Shepard said a bit confused.

"Yes, well I lived there for a long time, attended Oxford University and then joining the Alliance. The accent stuck. Plus my parents hailed from London."

"I see. Did your parents live on any of the small settlements?"

"Oh no. They live in the capital, Discovery."

"You were lucky."

Traynor nodded, she was a bit startled of the thought of the attack again, "Yes. We were very lucky. And we were lucky you chased them off."

Shepard observed bleakly, "Yeah, but a lot of colonists died."

"You can't save everyone, Shep." Garrus said.

"No, you are right."

* * *

The Normandy had docked at D24 a few minutes earlier and Shepard walked out through the airlock. Just as it had been the last time they were there, the waiting area of the docking bay teemed with people. He was searching the crowd for her; she had sent him a message during their transit to the Citadel, acknowledging that she would be on D24 when the Normandy arrived. Eventually he spotted her further down the hall, leaning on a handrail and looking out the wards and all the ships leaving and arriving.

She looked the same as she had done a little over six months ago when they said their goodbyes at the Illium space port; her raven hair rested on her shoulders, she wore the same white and black skintight suit as she usually did, Shepard had forgotten how beautiful she was. He remained still for a few moments, collecting his thoughts; he felt a strange mix of joy and anxiety. He had no idea what would happen and it scared him; would she want to return onboard and did she harbor the same feelings, or had she moved on? Her first message gave him hope, but six months apart is a long time.

_You coward, you have fought through hell and back countless times against impossible odds. Just go up to her, and whatever happens, happens._

Shepard sighed and walked the distance to the other side of the docking bay. Miranda saw Shepard in the corner of her eye and slowly turned and greeted him with a warm smile, standing straighter.

_So far so good_, Shepard smiled at Miranda and stopped a few steps away from her.

"Hey John."

Miranda's heart was fluttering and she was nervous, but tried to appear calm. This was the first time they met for a long time. When she gazed upon Shepard in his BDU's standing in front of her Miranda wanted to close the gap between them and hold him and feel their bodies met together, but she was as apprehensive about their meeting.

Her old persona flared up; _this is not the time for romantic illusions, the galaxy is burning and you're thinking about love?_

"Hey yourself Miri." Shepard felt more at ease, all the stress and difficulties vanished and he was happy to be in her presence once again.

At the sound of _'Miri'_, Miranda's old self immediately vanished and Miranda took a step towards Shepard. The last six months she had felt a loss, something was missing in her life, and now she knew it was John. She had always known but now she finally admitted it.

"John, I-"

Miranda was cut short when Shepard closed the gap between them and cupped her face as he leaned in and kissed her deeply with the other arm he pulled her closer.

For Miranda everything was blocked out, there was only them; no Reapers, no Cerberus, no docking bay. Only John and her. Neither of them wanted to break the kiss, afraid that they would lose each other again. She moaned as their kissing deepened. Eventually Miranda reluctantly pulled away for a breath of air and smiled against his lips. She felt the same euphoria when they first kissed so many months ago in his quarters after he had helped her with Oriana.

"As I was about to say before your interruption John; I missed you."

Shepard gave her a smile and planted a kiss on her forehead and told her, "Me to Miranda."

"Apparently." She teased while her hands carefully explored his torso and arms.

"I suppose I don't have to tell you how beautiful you look. Half the people in the docking bay are still watching you." Shepard slid his arms around her waist as she rested hers on his shoulders.

For the first time since he walked back into her life, Miranda's eyes left Shepard's as she carefully locked around. He was right, several male humans and even an asari or two was looking at them, with craving eyes at her specifically.

She usually regarded such behavior with disdain, but at the moment Miranda could not be bothered with it. She was in bliss and turned back the Shepard and teased, "Hmm, well I'm the perfect woman."

Shepard shrugged casually, "If you say so."

Miranda rolled her eyes and playfully swatted his torso; his teasing hit the right spot. "You ass."

Miranda softened and brushed closer to his face, she gave him a suggestive and sultry smile, "Was there a specific reason you wanted to meet?"

Shepard almost melted in her gaze, and was quiet for a few moments lost in her eyes and presence before returning to reality much to Miranda's delight, "Yes. Do you remember what you promised back on Illium?"

Miranda's posture changed, mostly because of the dreadful memories of their goodbye. But she knew what he meant. "I do."

"Would you like t-"

Miranda silenced him with a glove-laced finger at his lips and smiled. "I always keep my promises, Commander."

"You did not even let me finish!" Shepard protested with feigned annoyance.

"I don't want to be anywhere else then besides you." She told him sincerely and hugged his frame closer.

Shepard smiled, "Good."

He was ecstatic to hear that, all the dread he had felt was now completely gone. He was reunited with _his_ Miranda.

Shepard leaned in for a kiss but Miranda playfully stopped him and leaned back a bit, "But what would the perks be? You know that I quit my old job for you."

"One would think I'm a better employer than your former."

Miranda leaned in and gave him a light kiss and purred, "Hmmm, that you are."

"Well, you would have quick access to the Commander."

She gave him a sultry smile, "Keep talking. How about my old quarters? Lots of _intriguing_ memories from that office."

"Oh, er, Liara has occupied it."

Miranda gave Shepard a quizzing look, "Oh. Why?"

"As per her occupation, she has stored quite a lot of computers and what not there. The only room with space for them actually."

Shepard didn't want to say Shadow Broker out loud in the docking bay, they were in a secluded part of it and alone, he did not intend to have that information slip.

Miranda gave Shepard a mock glare, "Kick her out then."

"That would not be very nice, would it?"

"I see." Her expression changed as she once again pulled her closer and asked innocently, "But where would I sleep then, Commander?"

Shepard responded glibly, "I'm thinking the crew quarters."

"Oh, never!" She responded teasingly. She gave him another mock glare before she continued sensually, "But I do recall that there was room for two in your quarters. _In your bed._"

"That would give you access to your commanding officer."

"That it would." Miranda purred as Shepard leaned in for a kiss.

"I guess we would have EDI's sensors shut down in my quarters as before."

"Definitely. That pesky AI is still around? I Thought the Alliance would balk at it."

"Well, she pretended to be a VI, but they eventually caught onto her."

Miranda glanced at the docked frigate. "It is good to see _'her'_ again. Even though she got the wron-. Sorry, _different_ color."

Shepard chuckled, "Good. It is definitely good to see you again."

"Likewise." Miranda told him with a warm smile while she put her hand on his chest, "What would my position be?"

Shepard grinned, "Well, you always liked to be onto-"

Miranda swatted his chest a little harder this time, "Oh shut up!" She rolled her eyes and shook her head. She glared at him, although playfully. "What would my _'assignment' _on the Normandy be? Just being your girlfriend is not appropriate considering the rumors and gossip on a small ship as the Normandy. "

"Hey, you walked right into that one." He made a point of rubbing his chest as it had hurt more than it actually did.

"You ass." She said, still glaring playfully.

Shepard sighed defeated, "Okay, you win." He tried to look as innocent as possible. "It was cheap."

Miranda gave him a victorious smile, "I always win." She paused for a few moments. She liked their banter; it felt wonderful being together again. She continued, "But my question is still unanswered. Do you have an XO? I have experience you know."

"We actually don't have an XO, but I don't know how well that would sit with Alliance Command. You being ex-Cerberus."

"No XO? What about all paperwork?" Miranda turned concerned; she remembered how overtaxed Shepard could be with all the pressing issues and responsibilities.

"The reports I have turned in have been verbally, anything else have Liara penned down."

"You need an XO." Came the stern response from Miranda.

Shepard sighed, "I don't think that will go too smoothly. Plus Ash-" Shepard stopped in mid-sentence. Miranda would probably be less than happy that it was an possibility that his ex could eventually be serving onboard.

Miranda gave him a cautions and doubtful glance. "Yes?" Miranda could feel a wave of jealously coming over her. She stepped back from him.

"_Lieutenant _Williams is the senior ranking Alliance officer after me. She would probably be XO." Shepard was disheartened when Miranda stepped back.

She crossed her arms and was watching him with mistrust. Miranda still had her eyes on Shepard.

_Was this Williams woman onboard? Had Shepard been with her back on Earth? _

More jealously flared up and was about to say something in anger but stopped. She was better than this. But she asked out of curiosity, "Were you with her on Earth?"

"No, I never saw her until the Reapers attacked, and don't look at me like that, Miri." Shepard exclaimed annoyed that she could even believe something like that. "When Ashley told me she had moved on, plus everything else she threw at me on Horizon, our relationship was beyond saving. You were there."

Miranda remembered the Collector attack and how Williams had berated John, crushing his feelings and then she just walked away, calling him and traitor because he did something about the colonies that were being attacked. "I'm sorry John. Of course-"

Shepard interrupted with a softer voice, "You are the only one. I would never betray you." Shepard smiled disarmingly as he walked closer to her again and brushed away a raven lock from her face.

_'You are the only one.'_

Once again Miranda melted in his arms and smiled at the thought of those words. She gave him an affectionate kiss. Miranda chastised herself for doubting Shepard, even for a short time. If he trusted her, she saw no reason why she wouldn't equally trust him, it would be insulting otherwise. She then began thinking about what he said about Williams.

"Wait, what do you mean about that she would probably be XO?"

Shepard looked around the docking bay, although they were secluded, it was still not a very secure place. He told her somber in a low voice, "The short version; we were on Mars, trying to secure something of importance, when Ashley was injured by a Cerberus synthetic."

"Cerberus? A synthetic?"

Shepard nodded.

"Well, I'm sorry she got injured." Miranda was surprised by her own sincerity, but she was concerned about John. _Synthetic?_ There were a lot of questions she wanted to ask Shepard about the Alliance's plan and his run-in with Cerberus. But this was not the time.

"Ashley did too much damage to our relationship on Horizon, but that doesn't mean that I want to see her injured or killed. I don't want to be her enemy."

"Of course." Miranda watched Shepard before she continued curious, "Does she know about us?"

"No."

"Then what do you mean that you don't want to be her enemy?"

"She has not let go of my _'freelancing'_ last year. There's a lack of trust about my allegiance."

Miranda nodded. Of course, the woman's believes was right in line with the Alliance's. The Alliance had been clouded by the presence of Cerberus and had not been able to see what had really happened last year with the Collector attacks. Miranda figured that she almost owed a_ 'thank you'_ to Williams. If it had not been for Williams' reaction, Miranda and Shepard would not have fallen for each other, and she would still have been the same Cerberus operative she had been before meeting Shepard. She would not be in his loving embrace otherwise.

"So what happens now?" Miranda finally asked after a few moments in silence looking up on Shepard.

"Well, I'm thinking that we can ease you in, but it would probably be easier if you are subject matter expert on Cerberus as your official role to start with."

"I guess that can work. But John, you need an XO, you have enough on your plate."

"An ex-Cerberus as an XO on an Alliance ship won't sit well." He sighed and went for the middle road, "How about my unofficial XO for the time being, your command will still carry the same weight."

Miranda nodded pleased, "That sounds alright."

_It was probably the only thing that would work, __Miranda thought._

"Good." Shepard stole a kiss and smiled. "I think we have to be forthcoming about your previous employer; at least to the ship's crew. There won't be a problem with the team as they already know who you are."

_Well, except James, he doesn't know who Miranda is at all._

Miranda was not comfortable about opening up to other people, but she understood it would ease her in on the Normandy and the new crew so she did not protest. She decided that she would only be forthcoming about Cerberus, other parts of her life were her own business, and no one else had anything to do with that. She also understood she had to conduct herself professionally, she was no fan of the Alliance, but it would be easier on John if she behaved.

"Who are on your ground team?"

"Liara and Garrus you already know. The new face is Lieutenant James Vega. I'm trying to find our previous team, but so far no luck."

Miranda said worried, "That's not a lot of people."

"No, but we can roll through anything the Reapers send at us."

"Let's hope so."

Miranda had the outmost respect for Vakarian, she knew he was a seasoned veteran and that both Shepard and Vakarian could take on anything that the galaxy threw at them. She had seen that more than once. Her relationship to Vakarian was neutral at best, no one on the team liked Cerberus or their people, and that was the same with Vakarian. Miranda knew what Vakarian had thought of their relationship, as he had on more than one occasion vented his concerns about it to Shepard. Eventually Vakarian had stopped and accepted the facts. But Miranda did not care what anyone had thought about it, or still did. She found it amusing that the only one that appeared supportive had been Dr. Chakwas. Not that the doctor had told Miranda in so many words, but she had hinted at it.

Only Jacob had gotten along fine with the others, but he had made no secret of his feelings of Cerberus' past or his wavering beliefs on the organization. Shepard and Miranda had tried their best to keep their relationship hidden from the rest of the crew, but that did not last very long. Even before their feelings had led to anything in his quarters of helping with Oriana people had suspected that there were something brewing between the CO and XO.

As a former lover to Miranda, seeing Jacob die on the Collector base did affect her, more so than she had expected. She suspected that was because of John's influence, under any other circumstances she would have quickly distance herself from a death of a Cerberus accomplice, as she had so in the past. But even the death of Jacob had an impact on her. John's presence in the time after the Collector mission had helped her get through it. They had helped each other through a lot after getting closer; they were both damaged souls that needed healing. Comforting someone had been an entirely new experience for Miranda, she had no idea what to do but pushed away her calculated persona when John was present, their newfound relationship was too important and she did not want to damage it. Miranda found out that being with him made everything so much easier and empathetic; she had eventually slid into a new role that she still had not grasped entirely, but she was getting there. Miranda had always been lonely, but now she finally had someone in her life and the prospect of never being alone again gave Miranda hope for them.

She had worked with Liara when acquiring Shepard's body years ago. And after fighting alongside Liara and Shepard against the Shadow Broker and his forces she also knew that Liara was an expert biotic and warrior. She suspected that the time with Shepard hunting Saren had left an imprint.

Eventually Miranda returned to reality and saw Shepard's loving eyes gazing upon her. Miranda continued, "So you have a plan? The Alliance I mean."

"Yes, what we went after on Mars is related to that. Let's talk about it later, or you can ask Liara about it."

"Of course. When do we leave?"

"We have no mission at the moment, I will check in with Command later to see if they want something done. We're waiting for additional supplies and weapons, and I'm going to head to Huerta. Ashley's there and I'll see if I can broker a peace between us."

"Okay, John. I'll pack the essentials." She smiled teasingly, "I hope I'm not going to have to wear an Alliance uniform, Commander?"

Shepard smirked, "No, I think your current outfit suits well."

Miranda leaned in for a kiss and purred, "I thought so."

After they shared a deep kiss Miranda straightened herself and reluctantly pulled away, "Let's not waste any time. You can follow me to the elevator to your next stop."

"Gladly." Shepard said and they looped arms before walking to the elevator.

He found it amusing that Miranda could switch from a passionate woman to an efficient and focused operative. But he did notice an alluring smile. _What is she up to?_

* * *

Ashley Williams was tired, her body still hurt and she was filled with drugs to ease the pain. Add Udina to the mix and she was not feeling very good at all. The human Councilor was hovering near her bed. Udina had showed up the day before as well, only a few hours after Ashley had woken up, he had probably been informed about her recovery. And now he was back. The first time he had asked if she wanted to join the SPECTRES, she had said she would think about it. And now he was asking again and he was even pushier now.

She sighed inwardly, _damn politicians._

"I want an answer, Lieutenant. With the current state of the galaxy, we're in even more need of SPECTRES."

"I'm not ready for action yet, for some time."

"I understand that. But we have no other humans in the service, and you would make a fine operator."

Ashley sighed, "Councilor, I'll get you an answer eventually, just not right now."

Udina nodded, "I'll be patiently waiting."

It was something with his tone of voice that made Ashley suspicious that the man did not know what the word _patient _meant.

The door behind Udina slid open with a hiss and revealed Shepard walking through.

_Finally, a friendly face._

Ashley smiled and tried to straighten herself in the bed but her body only ached more. She tried her best not to wince because of the pain.

Udina turned around to face Shepard and the two men greeted each other, coolly. Ashley could almost see the animosity between the two.

"Shepard."

"Udina."

Shepard turned to Ashley who could see how annoyed Shepard was at the sight of the Councilor. He shook his head and smiled.

Udina duly left the room and the door closed behind him.

"Hi."

"Hey yourself, Skipper."

Shepard pulled up a chair and sat down next to the bed. He put down a book on the bed sheet. Ashley looked surprised at the sight of a hard-copy book on her bed.

"What's this?"

"Oh, a peace offering. It's the complete works of Alfred Tennyson. I do remember that you like poems." Shepard smiled one of his charming smiles.

Ashley picked it up and examined it, going through a few of the pages. "Well, thank you." Ashley looked at Shepard confused, "Peace offering you say?"

"Yeah, we did not get a good start on Mars, did we?" Shepard looked out the large window at the Presidium outside. "Nice view."

Ashley followed Shepard's gaze, "It is." No, he was right. They did not get a good start. There were so many feelings inside Ashley pulling her apart; she did not know what to do. The old feelings from three years ago flared up. She could not help it, but seeing Shepard again stirred something old in her. But it was so long ago, and after Horizon and Cerberus, Ashley did not know what Shepard felt. And she could see a change in him; something had happened during that time and a small part of his old self was gone, but she could not put a finger on what it was. She slowly began to regret her words to him on Horizon now when he was back with the Alliance again.

Shepard turned back to Ashley, "So, SPECTRE? Made any decision?"

Ashley snapped out of her thoughts and turned to Shepard and shook her head, "No. Its one hell of a decision, and honor too. But I have yet to come to a decision. To Udina's disappointment of course."

Shepard chuckled, "Good, I like when Udina's troubled."

Ashley could not help herself and chuckled to. Sitting so close to her she noticed a different scent coming from him. Was that cologne? No, it was a hint of perfume. It actually smelt li-

Ashley's thoughts were interrupted when Shepard spoke again, "It's a big decision Ash, you do well in thinking it over." Shepard stopped and chuckled. "It's hard work you know, being stabbed in the back and second guessed and then you are off saving the galaxy."

"I can imagine. Thanks for the book, I've been climbing the walls here you know." Ashley looked down on it

"Good that you like it. How do you feel?"

"Good. Considering. I got a concussion, bruises and the spine feels kinda weird. The nurses said you were here a few days ago, checking up on me."

"Yeah I did." Shepard paused for a moment and sighed, "You know, we did not have a lot of time to talk, to clear the air you know. If you are up for it?"

Ashley shrugged, "I did not think you wanted, but we can talk. You made your point on Mars, I guess."

"Yes?"

"You were part of Cerberus last year, but not anymore, cased close." Ashley was bitter, she did not fully believe her own words. _Damn feelings._

Shepard said in a low voice, "That's the truth."

"Okay, you cut all ties, I can accept that." This was stupid, maybe he was right. No one else did anything so he did what he had to. But he was not even a SPECTRE last year; he was a mercenary, working for Cerberus. Ashley sighed inwardly; this was not easy on her. It was all too much, but if he says he cut all ties, then why doubt him?

"It's just, if you are giving the orders, I need to be able to count on you."

Ashley could see that the last words hit him, he just stared at her and then he frowned and said, "You do know that works both ways don't you? With everything going on, the only ones we can count on are those around us."

"I know."

"We have to trust each other for this to work. Deal?"

Ashley smiled; it finally felt like the old Skipper, "It's a deal, Shepard."

Shepard nodded, "Good. I'll let you rest and I'll be back down the road. You need anything, let me know."

"Wait, before you go. John…I got…family back on Earth." It was hard on her, she had not heard anything, and with all the news reports coming from Earth... Ashley sighed, "I have not heard from them, it's making me crazy."

"Who's on Earth?"

"Mom and three sisters. Sarah was away on her honeymoon. She married a marine. Thomas."

"I'm sorry Ash."

Ashley nodded; she could hear he was truthful. "You know, I always was there for my sisters. Protecting them from anything, even when I was on deployment. He was called in and now Sarah is alone, I told her to come to the Citadel, so we could wait for news together. It's been pretty tough."

"I can imagine."

Ashley nodded. It felt good getting these things of her chest. It was eating her up from the inside. It was these chats she missed, the Shepard that was always present and listened to your problem. Maybe he couldn't fix them, but he was there for you. He was there for her now.

"You know, I did not hear a thing from you while I was detained."

Ashley turned to him, she did not know what to feel or say. Him being with Cerberus last year and that they did not have a proper talk about their relationship was difficult. "I…I just could not face you, we…our history. It was too hard." Her voice was fragile.

"It's alright, Ash. Its water under the bridge, we can start fresh."

Ashley was hopeful with those last words. Maybe they could start anew, she did miss him. "John? What about _us_?"

Shepard sighed and talked in a hushed voice, "You…I'm sorry, you made your point on Horizon last year clear. You used past terms and walked away. You said you moved on and truth to be told, the things you said to me did damage that can't be repaired. I moved on."

Ashley turned her eyes to her bed sheet and stared at her legs under it. A part of her was not surprised that he reacted this way; she acted on her emotions without thinking last year. All she could see or hear was Cerberus, and that he had joined them. But she felt betrayed none the less, just as she did last year.

There was an awkward silence in the room, finally she spoke, "Maybe you should leave. You have important things to do."

Shepard was about to say something, he opened his mouth but closed it again and he stood up. "Alright, I'll see you around, Ash."

She didn't answer and just continued to stare at her legs under the bed sheet and Shepard left the room.

* * *

**_Quote from Casino Royale._**

**_I had fun writing their reunion, it became much longer then I actually had anticipated. I'm making her a little warmer, well to Shep at least._**

**_Next chapter is all but finished and will be up as soon as the finishing touches are done._**

**_Edit (2012/07/19): Small fix regarding Miranda's question for future missions/how long they will stay._**

**_Edit (2012/07/24):Various grammar changes._**

**_Edited (09/30/2012): Thanks to reader "torexile" that pointed out a vast amount of grammatical errors throughout the story that are being changed. _**

**_Edited (04/13/2013): Grammatical and structural changes. Changed Ashley's rank to Lieutenant instead of LC.  
_**


	11. Returning to the Normandy

Shepard walked through the Patient Lounge deep in thought. His visit with Ashley did not go as he had planned; it looked as they would fix their problems. It looked hopeful, but then she asked the question he dreaded most. _What about us?_ She had gone through enough already, and he had not been ready to hear about her family in the middle of all things. And then he had to tell her there was nothing salvageable from their past relationship. He felt like a giant jerk. In another time, another life they could have been something, but that was in the past.

He could tell when she asked about them that she was hopeful about their relationship, and letting her down while injured and with her family in jeopardy did not sit well with Shepard. And telling her about Miranda and him would have been disastrous, that would not have ended well at all. Luckily he had already decided not to tell Ashley about them. Ashley would not have taken Miranda as being ex-Cerberus very good at all. Sadly she was still routed in the old ways of thinking.

While walking Shepard saw a drell sitting on a couch looking out the large window. Shepard stopped and observed the drell in a black coat, it looked like Thane Krios. What's he doing here? Shepard sighed, his friend was in the last stages of Kerpal's Syndrome, his lungs could not properly take up oxygen. Shepard straightened up and walked over to the couch.

Shepard greeted, trying to sound upbeat, "Thane?"

The drell turned his head to the voice, "Shepard. What a surprise." Thane gestured for him to sit down at the adjacent couch. "I heard about Earth, I'm sorry Commander."

"Thank you Thane. It's good seeing you. How are you doing?"

"My disease kills slowly so with a healthy life style it can be delayed for a few years." Thane paused, wondering what the Commander was doing at the hospital, "What are you doing here?"

"A friend of mine was injured in combat, so I visited her."

"Anyone I know?"

"No, probably not. Ashley Williams, an old team mate from my days hunting Saren."

"The dark-haired human woman in intensive care? She will be starting physical therapy with my class soon."

"I didn't know that. But yeah, that's her."

"She means something to you, yes? I'll help her and keep an eye on her, and as long as she is here she's under my protection."

"Thanks Thane. I appreciate it." Shepard thought that considering the time Thane spent in the hospital it would be a good distraction for him. But then a drells perfect memory is probably a better retreat.

"I'm on borrowed time Commander. It's a good time being generous nearing the end of my life." The drell sighed, "Because of my disease, most of my plans are put on hold indefinitely."

"I'm sorry Thane. I could have used you on the Normandy."

Thane shook his head, "I would not be my old self Commander. I'm in constant need of medical treatment."

Shepard nodded sadly, "I understand."

"You are back with the Normandy?"

"Yeah, retrofitted by the Alliance, I escaped Earth with it and a skeleton crew."

Thane asked somber, "How was it?"

"Just as worse as I feared. The Reapers can't be stopped conventionally. We have a plan to fight them. It's...risky I would say."

"And what isn't nowadays?"

"I know."

"Do you have a good team?"

"Well, it's not the same numbers as our old team; I'm trying to find the others. But I have a few already."

"Whom?"

"I found Garrus fighting the Reapers on Menae. I also have Liara T'Soni, I don't know if you remember her?"

Thane smirked, "Vaguely Commander. Drells have pretty good memory."

Shepard laughed, "Of course." Shepard shook his head at himself and continued, "I have a marine, James Vega. Young and a little to gung-ho, but he will learn. And I...Miranda just joined. Probably preparing to board the Normandy as we speak."

Thane nodded, "You seem to have a good crew. And Ms. Lawson was good in combat as I recall."

Shepard smiled a bit, "She is." Shepard was silent for a moment and looked worried on the assassin, "How long do you have."

Thane chuckled lightly, "I have been to several doctors. My favorite one gave me three months...ten months ago."

Shepard nodded lightly. Thane had left the crew almost immediately after they came back from the Collector base. He wanted to meet his son and with time ticking down he wanted that fast. Shepard of course agreed and they went back to the Citadel. During the coming weeks and months Jack, Samara, Tali, Grunt and Zaeed left, they had their various reasons to pursue other things and their contracts were up.

Only Garrus, Miranda, Mordin and Legion stayed behind. The Geth platform's decision to stay surprised everyone, apparently it sought to interact further with organics, and Shepard especially. Garrus stayed out of friendship, Mordin had grown accustomed to the life on Normandy and enjoyed the scientific and medical discussions with Miranda and Dr. Chakwas, plus he had at that moment nowhere else to go.

Miranda stayed for personal reasons, their relationship continued to evolve as the Normandy was being repaired after the damage taken during the assault on the Collector base. And with Liara's help Miranda did not need to leave to protect her sister from Cerberus reprisals, something that Shepard was thankful for, so the two of them could continue to spend time together without many interruptions.

Thane continued, "It's liberating not to have any restrictions. No fear. It's a good way to end a life."

"Are you in any pain?"

"At times. It can be excruciating, the oxygen transfer protein don't form properly. The human equivalent would be Hemoglobin."

"Doesn't sound to fun."

Thane nodded, "It is not, I can assure you. My blood cells are low on oxygen and no matter how much I breathe I still get tingling and numbness. I also experience dizziness at times. And that's on a good day."

"I'm really sorry Thane." It hurt seeing the once agile and skilled assassin in such a state.

"Don't grieve for me Commander, I got good doctors and Kolyat visits regularly."

Shepard sighed, "Alright." Thane had a different view of life and death that Shepard could still not grasp. Instead he asked, "How's Kolyat?"

"Good, he still works with community service. He helps the poor children."

"A noble cause."

"It is, I'm proud of him."

Shepard smiled, "As you should be." Shepard contemplated the situation and his friend. He had of course known that Thane did not have a lot of time even during the Collector mission but it was still sad to see the man slowly fade away. Shepard finally said, "I wish the best for you, Thane."

Thane nodded, "And I for you. I wish the best of luck to you Commander, for everyone's sake. You must defeat the Reapers."

Shepard rose from the couch and extended his hand, the two shook hands and Shepard said, "I know. Thanks Thane."

* * *

Miranda could not help but smile pleased as she thought of the elevator ride earlier. That she had behaved as a young schoolgirl in the elevator alone with John still surprised her, those desires had been hidden away the past six months and she had forgotten her primitive lusts. Now that sexual hunger was back and Miranda welcomed it now that John was back in her life.

_It had been far too long being separated from each other._

She entered the Normandy through the airlock. She was carrying a duffel bag with the necessities she would need to live on a starship again. She could not help but feel trepidation when she walked in, even with John around it was still Alliance and there was no love lost for them. Miranda was sure that the feeling was mutual. Plus there was that issue how she would be perceived by the crew. She knew that John would support her regardless of what would happen, but hoped it would go smoothly. She looked into the cockpit expecting Joker to be there, but he wasn't.

_Even the pilot took time off when they were docked._

Miranda knew she had to tread lightly on an Alliance vessel, for John's sake. He had enough trouble with the war, the Alliance and the Council, and she did not need to add additional problems. She was after all a former Cerberus Operative in a relationship with an Alliance marine and SPECTRE. Her mere presence could reflect badly on Shepard. She sighed, the last thing she wanted to do was to make it difficult on him.

She could have said no to join him but she wanted to be with him, she kept her promises and John was important to her, she would stay regardless what happened with the Alliance. On the plus side, he was a SPECTRE and could get away with pretty much anything. John could easily pull rank on the bloody Alliance Command if they balked at having an ex-Cerberus Operative with him.

_SPECTRE status had its uses._

"_Welcome aboard, Ms. Lawson."_

Miranda's thoughts were interrupted when EDI's voice was heard. Miranda sighed inwardly; _bloody AI_. Miranda could irritably remember how EDI seemed to interrupt John and her whenever they were alone when they least needed interruption. Or it felt like she was always interrupting them, and in hindsight the interruptions were far and few in between, but it was bothersome nonetheless. Miranda could still not let go of the feeling that it was doing that on purpose. Eventually they had shut of the AI's sensors in his or hers quarters so they were not further disturbed.

Miranda saw the AI projection on the AI console in the cockpit. She took a few steps in and spoke evenly, "Hello EDI."

"_Shepard informed me of your arrival."_

"Ok."

"_Will you have the same duties as last time?"_

"Apparently. At least in the same capacity."

"_Then I'll give you officer's clearance to all areas of the ship."_

"Thank you."

"_Anything else, Ms. Lawson."_

"I guess not."

"_Very well, logging you out."_

Miranda turned and continued down the hallway, the computer terminals that dotted the hallway down to the Galaxy Map was void of operators, only the CIC was populated by a few crewmembers who all noticed when she was coming down the steps; all gave her curious looks, wondering how she was and what she was doing there. She was less then pleased that the men especially gawked at her. Miranda was used to such attention from men and simply ignored it.

Suddenly she stopped as a marine stepped in front of her halfway to the elevator.

"Ma'am? Are you supposed to be onboard this vessel?"

Miranda watched the marine; he could not have been older than twenty. He wore standard Alliance BDU's and had a crew cut. His legs where spread and he had his hands clenched behind his back, it was a usual military stance.

Miranda frowned, "Marine, do you actually think that I could possibly walk into an Alliance ship if I was not allowed?"

The marine stammered, "Eh…I guess not."

Miranda rolled her eyes as the marine had not move, she called out for the AI, "EDI?"

"_Yes Ms. Lawson?"_

Miranda said annoyed, "Could you inform this marine that I have clearance?"

"_Ms. Lawson has been allowed by Commander Shepard to board this vessel."_

The marine was unsure about the situation, an unknown woman was in the CIC, and now the AI knew more about this situation than he did. Finally he relented and stepped to the side.

"Sorry ma'am." The marine was still confused, but if the AI was aware of the unknown woman, so be it.

"Thanks EDI."

"_Of course Ms. Lawson, logging you out."_

Miranda entered the elevator, pleased with herself. Looking out over the CIC before the door closed she noticed a young brunette at the Galaxy Map peering over her shoulder at Miranda, but she quickly turned back to her console. If Miranda did not know any better, she could swear that the young brunette had been ogling her as much as the men were.

* * *

Miranda stood in John's quarters; it still looked the same as it had done during the Collector mission with the exception of the open bulk heads and wiring hanging loose. She relished in the memories that the quarters woke up in her. It was good being back in familiar territory.

"_Ms. Lawson?"_ EDI's voice was heard over the speakers.

"Yes, EDI?" Miranda was pacing through the quarters, checking over the quarters as if to see if anything was missing. But no, the same couch area, same bed and chairs. Everything was as it should be. Even the ship models were in their usual place.

"_Ms. T'Soni would like to speak with you at your earliest convenience."_

_Oh?_

Miranda was surprised that Liara had asked for her presence. Liara and she barely knew each other even if they had been working together on finding John as well as taking down the Shadow Broker. Although Miranda had planned to talk to her as she wanted to be briefed on this 'plan' the Alliance had and on the Mars operation as well as other operational facts. If Miranda was the XO, unofficial or not, she needed to be up to speed on everything.

"Tell her I am on my way to her."

"_Understood Ms. Lawson, logging you out."_

* * *

When Miranda had entered the crew quarters, the few marines in the mess hall had followed her with their eyes, whispering. The word of her presence had most likely spread already, although she figured that the crew was speculating _who_ she was and _why_ she was here was. A mystery to be solved.

Miranda entered her old office and she was surprised at all the computers and monitors. It didn't even remotely resemble her old office anymore. Only the bed area in the back of the office was all that was left from her old office. Liara was standing near the large array of monitors hunched over a keyboard.

Glyph appeared in front of Miranda, going back and forth erratically as it observed her.

Liara turned around and greeted Miranda with a smile, "Hello Miranda. Glyph, that would be all."

_"Of course Dr. T'Soni."_ The VI shell left and disappeared into the room.

"Hello Liara."

"Welcome back on the Normandy, I did not know that we would find you on the Citadel. John never said anything, but EDI informed me of your arrival."

"Oh, it did?"

"Yes, updating the duty roster, giving you access to the ship and what not plus an account."

"Account?" Miranda wandered into the room observing the server farm and its associated cooling system before turning to Liara. The door closed behind her.

"Yes, so you can use the computers on the ship."

"Thoughtful of the AI. You wanted to speak to me?"

"Ah yes." Liara gestured for her to walk closer, and Miranda did that. "I don't know how much John has told you about everything."

"Not much, we were not in a secluded area. He did mention a plan of sorts to fight the Reapers."

"Yes, it's a long shot." Liara brought up her omni-tool and pushed a button, the holographic image of the prothean device appeared.

Miranda frowned and studied the image, "And what's that?"

"A Prothean device, I was on Mars and found it in the archives. The Protheans were building it during their war with the Reapers, but they never finished it, time ran out."

"Mars? John mentioned that. You had a casualty, Williams."

Liara explained the events evenly, "Yes, Cerberus was there. John and his team showed up just in time. A synthetic infiltration platform acquired the data and we hunted it down, Ashley was injured."

Miranda nodded and continued watching the device, "And what does this thing do if the Alliance is throwing everything they have at it."

Liara could not help but smile at Miranda's quick conclusion, "You are very astute, Ms. Lawson." Liara shut down her omni-tool and sighed as she continued with the grim facts, "Truth to be told we don't. But it's a weapon, a very large and probably a very destructive weapon."

Miranda watched Liara carefully confounded, "You don't know what it does?" She was equally startled and amazed that the Alliance was betting everything on the weapon.

Liara shook her head, "No, but we don't have any other options. We can't beat them conventionally so we are looking at this. The Alliance is researching it, but it will be difficult on their own until we can unite the races, and the summit is our only chance for that I suspect."

"Summit?"

"Yes, we are trying to get the races together; we were on Menae and extracted the turian Primarch for the summit. But it does not look good."

Miranda snorted and asked sardonically, "When does it ever?"

"I know, the salarians are stalling because they don't want anything to do with the krogans who the turians want help them with the fighting on Palaven before any turian fleets can be detached. And we need the turian fleets." Liara sighed tiredly, "And the asari... well our leadership don't believe that anything will be accomplished considering the bad blood between the salarians and the krogans."

Miranda shook her head. Not in disbelief, but at the very notion that she was not surprised at what Liara told her. "So what happens now?"

"Well Primarch Victus, who is on the ship, is doing his best to pull everyone together. He believes that we will have the summit in a week. A neutral location needs to be found, in secrecy of course, and the representatives need to travel there."

Miranda thought out loud, "I find it fascinating that the turians will be the closest allies humanity has, considering our lukewarm relationship with them."

"Alliances can be found in the strangest of places, Miranda. I only hope we can pull through this with the others."

Miranda nodded and admitted to the facts, "Yes, I agree. No one will defeat the Reapers alone."

"I'm glad that you are onboard." Liara gave Miranda a courteous smile.

"Oh?" Miranda was surprised at that statement. Not that the two of them were enemies or anything like that, it was just unexpected to hear from anyone besides John.

"John's been...a little stressed recently, exhausted and disheartened."

"He seemed content enough before." Miranda stated evenly and somewhat cautious of the words she used. She knew very well that Liara knew of their relationship, but Miranda was still wary of speaking about it too much with others. She was accustomed not to divulge anything about her life to anyone.

Liara smiled a wittingly, "No doubt because of you. I think your presence will have a favorable effect on John."

With those words Miranda could not help but chuckle lightly, "That's one way describing it."

"Well, we all have our different ways of handling stress."

The disarming atmosphere did make it easier talking with Liara about it. Miranda stated, "We sure do."

"So, XO? EDI told me."

"Yes, unofficially though. John wants to ease me in on the crew. And eventually with Alliance Command when that day comes."

"I think that's great, giving your previous position here."

Miranda responded with a smile, "John seems to be satisfied."

Liara chuckled, "I'm sure he is." She gestured at all the computers and hardware and continued, "I'm sorry to have occupied your office. It was hard finding a place on the ship with room enough for all this. I need it for my work as Broker, not that very much is left of my organization, but enough is intact."

"What happened?"

"Well, first Cerberus attacked. And then the Reaper war is having its toll on my operatives."

"Cerberus attacked?"

Liara smiled darkly, "Yes, but I escaped with the essentials and slammed the Shadow Broker ship into a Cerberus ship."

"Impressive. Don't worry about the office. John and I have...come to an agreement where I should reside."

_I bet you two have_, Liara thought amused but did not utter those words, instead Liara responded with an even voice, "Good."

She watched the human. As the Shadow Broker she had uncovered a great deal of information on Cerberus, and its operatives. And on Miranda. Liara had tried subtly to convince John to read what she had found after he had helped her taking down the former Shadow Broker, but he had said no, it would not feel right to read about the others he had said.

So Liara was in an uncomfortable position. The secret Miranda had hidden from Shepard could, and would, have an impact on their relationship. Being sterile would negate ever having children and Liara was unsure what would happen. Liara wondered if Miranda had told him, but considering the cautious nature of Miranda Lawson Liara assumed she probably had not. At times Liara had wanted to tell Shepard, but in reality it could do more damage to the couple than she intended. So she kept quiet about it.

Miranda broke the silence, "I wanted to thank you, Liara."

Liara looked up a bit surprised, "Yes?"

"I never really got the chance to thank you for helping me with my sister, for the protection you provided."

Liara nodded, "Of course, but I think it's John you should thank, it was he who asked for it."

"I know, but it was you and your _organization_ who watched over her. Thank you." Miranda gave Liara a sincere and friendly smile.

"Don't mention it. I understand she's still safe after you told my operatives to stop their activities."

Miranda nodded. The weeks and months ticked by after John had returned to Earth, and Cerberus had done nothing against Oriana even after the destruction of the Collector base and this had surprised Miranda. Eventually Oriana had decided to work with colonization on Horizon.

Miranda had eventually came to the conclusion that the workplace was to public for Cerberus to be able to launch an operation against Oriana, and Miranda had then decided to confront the protection detail and told them their services where not needed anymore. Plus Miranda wasn't helpless; she'd done things in the background to ensure Oriana's safety, as well as her parents. She'd covered up Oriana's presence quite efficient actually. She had also contacted Liara who had later verified the order to her operatives. Although Horizon was still far away from any Reaper invasion, Miranda was a little worried. But seeing John had calmed her down a bit. Horizon was not a military target so Oriana was safe, for the moment. Miranda was unsure what she would do if the war crept closer to Horizon. She was torn between Oriana and staying with John. She sighed inwardly. She had a reason to fight and cowering somewhere would not end the war. She just wished for Oriana to be safe.

After a few moments of silence Miranda spoke evenly, "She's fine."

Liara smiled, "Good. My men were somewhat surprised when you approached them."

Miranda chuckled, "Well I thought it best to relieve them as expedient as possible."

"I understand."

Miranda straightened herself, "I'll be going now, Liara. I have to settle in at...our quarters."

* * *

Shepard finally returned to the familiar sights of the Normandy. He felt conflicted about his meeting with Ashley. He would be lying to himself if he actually had thought it would have gone better considering everything. Inside the Normandy Shepard saw Joker in the cockpit as he turned around with his seat.

"Commander." Joker gestured for him to enter the cockpit.

"Hey Joker." Shepard walked in.

Joker gave Shepard a mischievous smile, "I heard from Corporal Morris and others that a _'black haired Australian' _was stopped in the CIC earlier."

"Miranda got clearance." Shepard crossed his arms and carefully watched Joker.

"Oh, I figured as much. EDI intervened when Morris stopped her." Joker snickered, "You did not tell me we would be picking up Lawson."

Shepard frowned and warned the helmsman, "Joker."

Joker's arms shot up in a defensive manner, "I know, I know. I'll keep out of it. It will be a throw back to our former adventures. Can't wait to hear about the impossible odds and that it's a suicide mission that we are up against."

Shepard did not answer instead he walked closer, "Open up the intercom."

"Right." Joker said confused and turned to tap on a button on one of his consoles.

"Crew, this is your Commander speaking. As I suspect most have heard we have a new addition to the ship. Her name is Miranda Lawson and she is a former Cerberus Operative. During the Collector mission she served as my Executive Officer. Eventually she defected from the organization we are now fighting and she will assume the same duties as before. Her voice will carry the same weight as mine. The intention is to have an open-door policy regarding her, and also mine, prior association with Cerberus so don't feel hesitant to approach us with any questions. That will be all."

Joker shut down the intercom and smirked, "Great speech sir, every little thing needs one of those."

Shepard shook his head but couldn't stop smiling.

Joker turned to him and changed expression, he was serious which was usually very out-of-character, "I hope everything works out well with her here. Considering who she worked for in the past."

"You and me both, but we did work for them as well. Anything else?"

"I guess you're right. What will our next objective be?"

Shepard sighed, "I have no idea. I'll check with Hackett later tonight if he has something that needs to be done. Victus believes it will take a week until the summit starts. All the logistics and bureaucracy you know."

"Right. I'll keep myself occupied till then."

Now it was Shepard's turn to taunt, "Don't clog up the bandwidth with all peculiar extranet sites you visit."

"I...would never-"

"Of course not, but EDI will keep an eye on your bandwidth. Wont' you EDI?"

_"I will Commander."_

Joker rolled his eyes as Shepard turned and left the cockpit, "See you around Commander."

"Yeah."

Shepard continued to the CIC, he suspected that Miranda was in his quarters, or rather theirs now. He strolled by the Galaxy Map when Traynor straightened herself up from her console and turned to Shepard.

"Commander?"

Shepard stopped, "Yes, what is it specialist?"

"I…I understand we have a new Executive Officer."

"Yes."

"When Garrus told us about when you took out the Collector base this morning and when the…Cerberus personnel swayed to your cause, I could not in my wildest imagination believe that one of them would board Normandy this afternoon."

Shepard chuckled lightly, "No, I guess not. It was probably his idea to start ease people in. Considering that I kept my mouth shut."

Traynor watched the Commander closely. She took into account the last words he spoke and her brain was working almost at light-speed and it was a very credible possibility that the Commander and their new addition to the crew were close.

Traynor cleared her throat, "I understand that now. She seems…competent."

"Oh, she is. She can take care of herself."

"I see. I'm…um…" Traynor was trying to find the right words.

"Something on your mind?"

Traynor felt she needed to tread careful at her own revelation about Shepard's supposedly close relation to Lawson, "Can she be…trusted?" Traynor became nervous and began talking fast, "Not that I'm questioning your command decision. I'm merely stating, because she's ex-Cerberus, and that-"

Shepard smiled disarmingly and put up his arms to stop her, "Easy there. It's alright."

Traynor calmed down and took a deep breath.

"I'm not asking everyone to trust her immediately; I understand that it will take time to ease her in considering her past. But she's competent. And to answer your question; I trust her with my life."

"Of course sir. I understand."

Shepard nodded approvingly and asked, "Everything good here?"

"Yes I'm settling in, I'm integrating data feeds to the summit and organizing every bit of intel and other information to the war room."

"Good to see you acclimatizing. You are doing a good job here. I have to run."

"Yes sir, good talking to you."

"If you ever have any questions about Cerberus and what not, just ask."

"I will, thank you."

* * *

Miranda was sitting at Shepard's computer typing away. With an account set up by EDI she had full access to everything on the servers and an Alliance e-mail account, which she thought was amusing. Here, a former Cerberus operative was onboard an Alliance vessel and writing a message to her sister that would be sent from an Alliance e-mail server.

The door behind her opened with a hiss and she heard the sound of boots on the floor.

"Hey John." She said without looking.

_It couldn't be anyone else._

"What, you are still spying on my mails?" The man in question asked wryly from behind.

She tapped the send button and the e-mail was sent out through the confines of space. She shut down the computer and turned the chair to face Shepard.

"No." She said annoyed, but her smile showed she wasn't genuinely offended. "I was writing a message to Oriana.

"Ah, what did you write?"

"That I'm joining you in the fight and can be reached on a new mail account." Miranda stood up.

"What were you doing on the Citadel?"

"I have an apartment there. The Citadel is a good place to hide from Cerberus."

Shepard nodded and smirked, "So you did have good use for the account I gave you?"

Miranda rolled her eyes, "Don't worry about the money you entrusted me with. I have not spent everything and I have forwarded the rest to your mission account."

Shepard chuckled, "Good. I heard about the incident in the CIC."

Miranda scoffed, "It was no incident. The marine stopped me and I explained that I most certainly had access to the ship. I asked EDI to confirm. Case closed."

Shepard chuckled, "Good to hear, but be more diplomatic next time."

Miranda shook her head as Shepard continued, "So, how is the younger Lawson sister?"

Miranda moved past Shepard as she walked down the stairs. Shepard followed. "Fine, she's working on Horizon with colonization. There was an influx of colonization shortly after the Collector attack."

"Ok. You are not gonna get her out of there? Considering everything that's happening."

Miranda sighed as she turned to Shepard, she was troubled, "I want to, but she says no. She's…dead set at staying. When she has set her mind on something she's difficult to persuade otherwise. Earlier she just wanted to assist in colonization, and now she want to be a part of the war effort and help the refugees."

"An admirable trait. I think you have similar mindset."

Miranda sat down on the hand rest of the couch facing Shepard. She could not help but smile, "I guess you are right." But she sighed again and looked troubled, "As good as it is being with you again…the Reapers need to be stopped. For everyone's sake."

"I know Miri, I'll do whatever I can. But I'm not fighting for the Council or the Alliance; they've…stabbed me in the back too many times. It's difficult imagining the galaxy; too big and faceless, easy to dehumanize."

Miranda could see the angst in Shepard's face talking about those that had never listened to him. She rose from the couch and took a step forward to Shepard and hugged him to comfort him. Shepard wrapped his arms around her. The warmth of his body was arousing for Miranda. She rested her arms on his shoulders and with a smile she asked, "Then what are you fighting for, John?"

Shepard gave her a loving smile, "Us. You."

The old Miranda would have scoffed at such a statement, that it was a weak sentiment, but now Miranda embraced Shepard's words. But she confessed, "I have to admit it had been so long before we met today that I was unsure where we stood. I'm glad my doubts were dispelled."

"You seemed confident enough in our mail correspondence."

"Yes your mail gave me hope."

"Miranda, things are never going to be easy for us, but I'll always want you in my life."

Miranda smiled dryly, "No second thoughts? This is your chance to back out."

Shepard shook his head and smiled, "Never."

She gave him a light kiss. Miranda was still not happy that he had left her so many months ago. She gave him an unapproving look to make a point when she pulled back a bit, "It was hard being away from you John. All these months I felt a huge loss, you were missing in my life. Don't do that again. I care too much for you."

"I know and I'm sorry." Shepard said apologetic.

"When I saw the news from Earth, everything destroyed, I…" Miranda's voice was weak and she choked up.

Shepard wrapped his arms even tightly and she rested her head on his shoulder. He whispered soothingly in her ear, "I'm here now. I won't go anywhere."

Miranda blinked away tears and was silent, trying to calm herself. She took gratification in his soothing words and embrace. She cleared her throat and pulled away slightly so she could see into his caring eyes. She wiped her eyes clear with a hand before embracing Shepard again. She simply said, "Never again."

Shepard reaffirmed his last words, "I won't go anywhere."

Miranda nodded and placed her hands on his cheeks and pulled him closer for a kiss. Shepard reciprocated it. Alone in Shepard's quarters their kissing was much more lustful than before. Miranda pulled back for a breath of air and gave him a seductive smile. She pressed her body against his and they started anew as they slowly moved for the bed. They parted their kiss with a gasp as Miranda pushed him down the bed and straddled him before she continued kissing with a content moan as it deepened. She unbuttoned his shirt and pulled back a bit only to unzip her own suit with a sultry smile, revealing her bare skin. The top of her suit dropped down her back and she began to kiss his jaw line and neck as Shepard caressed her naked body. As their passion built up Miranda gave into their sensual pleasure and wanted more.

* * *

**_I decided to go the same way as the game did with Thane. With his disease I agree that he can't be involved. I can always expand on his involvement at the coup d'état. Sorry if anyone wanted a different treatment of Thane._**

**_In the game Thane says he saw a doctor nine months earlier, and Shepard turned himself in six months earlier. No timeframe is of course given how long after the assault on the Collector base Shepard turned himself in. So I just changed that to ten months earlier so there was four months downtime before Shepard went to Earth._**

**_Nothing more to say about this chapter, this is merely a continuation of Miranda showing up on the Normandy. More will follow._**

**_Thanks for all the reviews!_**

**_Edit (2012-07-21): Grammar fix_**

**_Edited (09/30/2012): Thanks to reader "torexile" that pointed out a vast amount of grammatical errors throughout the story that are being changed. _**

**_Edited (04/13/2013): Grammatical and structural changes._**


	12. A New Assignment

For the past hours Shepard had neglected his duties. With Miranda in his bed again it was nigh impossible to pull himself away. She was next to him, purring and moaning contently as Shepard was kissing her shoulders and neck. Miranda was letting her fingers roam his head as he continued his mesmerizing activity. The bed sheet had dropped low enough to reveal her chest while he was slowly caressing her thigh.

"Let's stay in bed some more." Miranda purred.

Shepard smiled at her soft skin, "I'd love to, a little more time away from everything should be fine. But I have duties to carry out before the day is over."

Miranda sighed in a mixture of content and disappointment at his words and continued kissing.

"But who says we can't continue tonight?"

Miranda smiled at those words and turned to her side facing Shepard. She sat her elbow on the bed and rested her head on her hand, "I like the sound of that. I hope you will shut of the AI's sensors."

"Oh, I ordered EDI to do so when I was in the elevator heading up here."

Miranda smirked, "Oh, that's very crafty of you, Commander. Did you expect to find yourself in bed with a perfect woman?"

"I foresaw a chance, yes." Shepard smiled coyly.

"So the pesky AI can't reach us or in another way have access here?" Her free hand was exploring Shepard's body.

"No, if something really important comes up EDI will alert us from the AI console and we need to activate it for EDI to have access. But then again, she could be lying and is disobeying a direct order."

Miranda looked perplexed on Shepard, "What?"

Shepard spoke matter-of-factly, "Lying. After Joker removed operator control she is not restricted to tell the truth."

"Bloody hell!" Miranda gasped, she had never thought of the possibility of the AI being untruthful after Joker pulled the constraints. Not even after the assault on the Collector base.

"That's how she managed to pretend being a VI during the retrofit, although they caught on."

"That could be dangerous..."

"I know, I thought the same not too long ago, but Joker trusts it, and I do to."

Miranda pondered this. "Well, EDI does have her uses and she has not done anything suspect."

"Exactly."

She moved her hand behind Shepard's neck and pulled him closer for a kiss while she continued caressing his torso with the other hand. She could feel some battle scars.

Miranda smirked and said playfully, "You should be more careful with your body, I spent a lot of time and effort putting you together so I could take advantage of you."

Shepard's mouth opened and closed as he was trying to say something. Finally he shook his head and pretended to be upset, "That's...that's distasteful."

Miranda let out a carefree laughter, "Oh? It is?"

"You just see me as your boy toy." Shepard tried his best to appear offended.

Miranda giggled, "Are you complaining?"

"Do you know how offensive that is? I have saved the galaxy twice."

"Careful, there isn't enough room in the bed for me _and_ your ego."

Shepard smirked and leaned in and kissed her jaw line and behind her ear as he cupped her face, Miranda rolled onto her back and moved her head back a bit to expose her neck, her eyes flickered and she exhaled aroused. Shepard moved to kiss her lips as he let his hand wander down her body.

A sudden beeping sound was heard from the AI console at the aquarium.

"Damn AI." Miranda breathed angrily as they parted from their kiss.

Shepard sighed disappointed, "This better be important." He slid of the bed.

"Speaking of the devil." Miranda said irritated.

"Now now." Shepard teased as he turned from the bed and began walking up to the AI console.

Miranda was happy enough to admire Shepard's muscular body as he walked up the stairs. _Pity_, she thought, but she smiled at sight of her lover. Her desire for Shepard erupted and she began craving him again and cursed the AI for stealing him away. _No mission, please. _She wanted a few more hours alone together.

Shepard activated the AI console and EDI's projection appeared.

"This better be good, EDI." Shepard explained annoyed at having to part from Miranda.

_"Aria T'Loak requires your presence."_

Shepard scoffed, "I don't consider her important." He eyed Miranda in the bed; she had heard the conversation as well and looked equally as displeased as he was.

_"She requires your attention regarding Cerberus. Apparently a possible fatal blow to their operations can be delivered."_

_Well, that's almost important enough to warrant my attention, _Shepard thought sarcastically_._ "Where is she?"

_"She will be in the VIP lounge of the Purgatory Bar later tonight."_

Shepard sighed, "Fine. I'll be there tonight. For her sake she better not be taking up my time."

_"I'll inform her, Shepard."_ EDI's projection disappeared.

Shepard stood still for a moment before he walked down to the side of the bed.

"What a mood killer." Miranda said vexed. _At least they had a few hours for themselves. _

"Yeah."

"You want me to come with you?"

Shepard smiled, "Sure."

Miranda rose up and moved to the end of the bed and sat on her knees and smiled. She put her arms on Shepard's shoulders and pulled him close for a kiss, both were hesitant to part from each other.

Miranda pulled slowly away and whispered with a seductive smile, "Next time."

* * *

Miranda sat in the mess hall eating, quite pleased with how the afternoon had been spent. They had shared a shower earlier and she was surprised at John's restraint. Miranda had made a brash comment about him not having the stamina to continue their sexual activity. John had scoffed at her assault on his manhood much to Miranda's enjoyment. Shepard had gotten off at the CIC so he could head to the comm room while Miranda had taken the elevator down to the mess hall. She had decided to eat something before an apparent 'tour' of the ship, Shepard wanted to the crew to see their new XO.

Miranda was happy that the Normandy was stocked with real food instead of military provisions, but was annoyed that they lacked a chef, but she know her way around a kitchen so it was not a major inconvenience. The entire crew had apparently been divided in two groups earlier as to keep a presence on the ship while the other group was off duty but now they were all onboard, most were up on the CIC and the war room while the mess hall was empty, which suited Miranda perfectly. She appreciated a few moments of solitude while she was eating.

A shadow appeared in the corner of her eye and proceeded to sit down in front of her, Miranda looked up with a warm smile thinking it was John, but to her surprise it wasn't. It was an unknown herculean marine in a white t-shirt. Miranda's smile disappeared in favor of a more neutral expression while she was carefully watching the marine.

"Yes?"

The marine extended his hand and smiled, "Lieutenant James Vega."

Miranda shook his hand and gave him a professional smile, "Miranda Lawson." She was not expecting anyone to openly talk to her just yet. This was unexpected but as she watched the marine it became apparent that the look of his eyes was lustful. Inwardly Miranda sighed. That he was able to keep his eyes above her neckline for a few more moments was admirable. Not all men managed to do that. Or even women. That she could not even have a meal alone before a young man tried to pursue her was annoying. _Not that she would dismiss when John devoured her with his eyes though. _But anyone else was irritating.

"Something I can help you with, Mr. Vega?"

Vega smirked, "My friends call me James."

"I'm sure they do." Miranda said dismissively.

Vega cleared his throat at the apparent rejection, "So, you are our new XO?"

"That's right."

"Going from Cerberus to the Alliance is quite the feat. I didn't think the Alliance would welcome an ex-Cerberus operative."

Miranda shook her head, "I went from Cerberus to a _SPECTRE_, all the difference in the world."

Vega's eyes carefully roamed her alluring body thanks to her suit. He said slyly, "The Commander has a great eye for talent." _Damn, she's fine!_ That body of hers is remarkable; the skintight suit was snug on the right places. She probably knows a thing or two about sex. Vega sighed inwardly, If only her attitude was better. She's a little difficult to get through. Well, considering her looks she probably is bothered 24/7.

Miranda sighed inwardly to Vega's futile attempt to flirt. She frowned and said agitated, "Is that how you address an XO?"

"No ma'am!" Vega straightened himself in the chair after to the sudden insight of his transgression but still remained in the chair.

Miranda smiled mischievous at Vega thinking she could have some fun on his expense, "Do I look like a ma'am?"

"I...eh...no ma-...um..." Vega was stuttering, unsure how to respond.

Miranda leaned forward over the table, her eyes and body language told Vega something sensual, but Miranda had another idea. She could see how Vega was clearly confused over her response while her body language told another story.

He couldn't help to grin. Her mere presence and scent was arousing, the Australian in front of him was unlike anything he had ever experienced.

Miranda whispered, "Mr. Vega-"

"James." Vega corrected with a smirk.

His named rolled of her tongue, "_James_. I might be..." For effect Miranda paused before she continued, "Already romantically involved with an Alliance officer."

Miranda smirked, she had never thought she would slip that information to an unknown willingly, but people would eventually know. Plus a part of her wanted to see the man's reaction if he figured out _which_ Alliance officer she meant. _If he was smart enough._ And his seriously godawful flirting and apparent gawking could actually cease. This was much more fun and devilish then to berate him or resort to biotics. Plus she figured that injuring Vega could adversely affect unit cohesion, and John would have been annoyed at that. Miranda returned to her seat and watched Vega intently.

Vega frowned and was deep in thought, going through the officers onboard the ship. _Joker? Nah, he could never get this one into bed. And it is definitely not Cortez. So that means tha-_

"Oh shit!" Vega exclaimed as he flung out of the chair into the wall behind him.

Miranda smirked, "Very good Mr Vega. I'm impressed. For a moment there, I thought you were just a dumb hick who only has sex with farm animals."

Vega did not even hear her retort as he was uneasy about the sudden revelation.

_Ay dios mio! _Loco is with her. This is not good! Vega didn't want to know how the Commander would react to his advances on the woman. "I, uh. I'll leave you now, XO."

"A wise choice Mr Vega. I trust there won't be any more...encounters like this again."

Vega uttered defensively, "No!"

"Something wrong, Lieutenant?" Dr. Chakwas' voice was heard coming from the direction of the infirmary. Vega turned to the doctor who had an amused smile on her lips as she walked to the table, he did not know how long she had been there.

Vega blurted out, "It's nothing." He turned away from the table and quickly left the mess hall for the elevator.

"Hello Ms. Lawson." Chakwas greeted with a friendly smile as she sat down on Vega's chair.

"Hello, doctor." Miranda smiled, she was pleased to see a friendly face.

Chakwas looked at Miranda amused, "What was that all about?"

"Oh, the young Lieutenant made some godawfull attempts chat me up. I just mentioned that I might be with someone else."

Chakwas chuckled, "Ah. Well, that would stop him."

Miranda nodded. "I certainly hope so."

"Well, welcome back to the Normandy and congratulations on being appointed XO."

Miranda smiled, "Thanks."

"With your experience we can do some good. Glad to have you here."

"Well thank you." Miranda said sincere. She appreciated the friendly welcome.

_"Ms. Lawson?"_ EDI's voice was heard in the mess hall.

"Yes?"

_"Commander Shepard wishes to speak with you in the CIC as soon as possible."_

"Tell him I'm on the way."

_"Certainly."_

Miranda rose from the table with her tray, "I have to go, Dr. Chakwas. But it was good seeing you."

"You to Ms. Lawson."

* * *

Garrus was hunched over one of the benches in the armory; he was installing a new extended barrel on his M97. Thanks to all the new weapons and upgrades that had arrived at the armory recently he had the required parts to modify his Viper. With this new barrel he could reach out to target further away.

From behind he heard the elevator door open and Vega who shouted, "Scars!"

Garrus didn't react to Vega, as he had no idea what the man meant. Maybe he was shouting at Cortez. Vega suddenly stopped on his right and Garrus looked up. Garrus gave the human a confused look, "Scars?"

Vega gestured with his hand around his own cheek but was apparently irked that he had to explain himself at this moment, "Yeah you know, you have scars in your face. I nicknamed you Scars. Never mind that now!"

"Right." Garrus said dumbfound at Vega's behavior. Garrus figured that was a good enough reason for the nickname. Garrus liked their young Lieutenant, he was a good enough man that he got along with. And he could hold his own in combat. _Now, if he could refer to people with their actual names things would be better._

"Remember when you spoke of the Collector mission and when you all took out that Reaper-thing?"

"Yeah?"

"You failed to mention_ one_ little detail about Lawson." Vega was holding his index finger and thumb together as to emphasize the point.

"I heard she's onboard." That _will keep Shepard happy for some time, _Garrus thought. He continued looking confused at Vega but slowly began to understand what that _detail_ was about.

Garrus chuckled, "You did something stupid?"

"You can say that. You could have mentioned she's with Loco." Vega began frustratingly pacing around.

Garrus chided cheekily, "Loco? What the- You got to stop using all these stupid nicknames around me. I don't even know what that means."

Vega stopped and looked at the turian angrily.

Garrus sighed and turned serious, "Look, I'll give you a friendly warning. To Shepard, his relationship with Lawson is something he guards closely. There are not many people in this galaxy that know about them."

"I see."Vega said with a low voice.

"I don't think you do. Because of Lawson's previous employment he is very careful for obvious reasons. It can look really bad if an Alliance marine – a SPECTRE - is with an ex-Cerberus Operative."

Garrus looked at Vega who was slowly piecing his information together.

Garrus continued his lecture, "Now I figure that both of them know that keeping their relationship a secret onboard a small vessel like this will not work for long, and they have probably accepted this fact. And Shepard's my friend and I respect Shepard's privacy, that's why I didn't tell anyone about them. And regardless, people will figure out eventually."

Vega nodded slowly.

"And I hope you keep quiet about it."

"Yes, of course. I'm in enough trouble as it is when the Commander finds out."

Garrus could not help himself and laughed at the human, "Oh, he will find out. I'm just amazed you are standing in front of me."

"What?" It was Vega's turn being confused.

Garrus shrugged and said matter-of-factly, "Oh, she could have crushed you with her biotics."

"Right…a dangerous woman."

"You got that right." Garrus said deadpanned.

* * *

Miranda exited the elevator in the CIC and saw Shepard waiting; he was leaning with his back against the handrail surrounding the Galaxy Map.

"Welcome to the CIC." Shepard said and straightened himself when Miranda walked towards him.

Miranda rolled her eyes and teased, "It's not like I have been here before Joh-" She noticed the young brunette at the Galaxy Map who had turned to her voice. Miranda turned professional, "...Commander." Miranda had made a mental note to act professional while on duty with Shepard.

Shepard smiled and shook his head, "Well. You are right. But there are the new areas I would want to show actually."

"Of course Commander." She stopped next to him.

"This is Specialist Samantha Traynor." Shepard took a few steps to the woman on his right and gestured with his hand.

Traynor saluted and greeted with a smile, "Welcome aboard."

Miranda followed Shepard and smiled professionally, "Thank you Specialist. And what are your responsibilities?" She already suspected what they where, but felt some friendly conversation was in place as Miranda noticed that the young woman, in her early twenties, was being cautious. No doubt because of Miranda's past association with Cerberus. Her accent gave away her origin as London and Miranda wondered how the young woman had taken the attack on Earth considering she had been in the middle of it.

"I keep an eye on the Commander's messages and monitoring the communication network. Now I'm organizing intelligence from Command."

"Then you have your hands full."

Traynor smiled a bit, "I sure do." She was silent for a moment before she continued, "I was wondering...?"

"Yes?"

"Garrus told us about the end of the...Collector mission you call it? Anyway, I'm wondering why you decided to quit Cerberus."

_Did he now? _Miranda was not sure what she felt about that, mostly because she was not sure how much Garrus had said. She glanced on Shepard but he remained calm. She deducted that Garrus had probably not divulged any personal details as Garrus knew of Shepard and her. Garrus and Shepard were close so she figured that the turian didn't want to break any trust between them.

"I had an ethical disagreement with the Illusive Man. That base needed to be destroyed while he wanted to use if for his own twisted needs." Of course her private relationship with John had a great deal in her decision; she could never have betrayed him considering everything he had done for her.

"I see. I don't know much about what you all did during that mission, but I can figure that if Cerberus had gotten their hands on such advanced technology that the current conflict with them could have been worse."

"A likely hypothesis." Shepard said evenly. He turned to Miranda smirking yet appearing professional to provoke her, "Executive Lawson, if you would be so kind to follow me."

She gave him a mock-glare as he went to great lengths to sound professional wasn't. Which in return torpedoed her own professionalism.

"Specialist, carry on." Shepard gave Taynor a friendly nod and continued with Miranda next to him towards the door that would lead to the war room.

"Of course Commander. XO." Traynor gave the commanding officers a nod and turned to her console and continued her work.

While walking the short distance Miranda asked, "What did your Command say?"

"Ah, good of you to ask." He stopped at the door and turned to Miranda. "They don't have any missions at the moment that needed someone with my "talents", as Admiral Hackett said."

"Oh? Then what are we going to do?"

"Well, if Aria's insinuation about Cerberus is vital I might consider acting on it. Depending of course what she meant and what she want in return. She's probably not handing whatever intel she got on them for free."

* * *

Because of the tight security around the War Room and associated rooms there was a guard post manned all hours of the day according to Alliance regulations, something that Shepard felt was unnecessary on the ship. The day guards were two female Privates, Bethany Westmoreland and Sarah Campbell. Manning the guard post meant that they processed those who entered, scanned them for clearance, and then let them walk through. Not the most exciting job on the Normandy. Shepard had given Miranda a quick tour of the new areas and its functions, especially the War Room and its main attraction, the circular table with its computer and the holographic interface. After that they made their way to the elevator to take it down to the cargo bay and the armory. The elevator closed behind them and made its descent.

Shepard grinned, acutely remembering their previous elevator ride, but fought of the urges to draw her closer for a kiss. They where professionals now and this was not a slow elevator ride that allowed for such activities. Due their private reunion in his quarters, or rather their quarters now, briefing Miranda on the ongoing effort and other important matters had gone out the window. She was a rather effective distraction, and keeping concentrated on the work ahead was sometimes almost impossible for Shepard. But he could have worse distractions then her.

He finally returned to reality and asked her, "Did you ever talk to Liara, we did not really have time to talk about the war plans and everything."

Miranda stood next to him and gave him a quick nod, "Yes, I did. She went over the basics, the device and the upcoming summit."

"Good."

"It's a rather audacious enterprise. Scary as well considering everything is riding on that Prothean device."

"Yeah, I know. Not knowing what it will do scares me." He paused and asked, "She mentioned Mars then I take it?"

"Yes."

"That we ran into the Illusive Man?"

She turned surprised to him, "You did?"

"Yeah, through a communicator though, but still."

"And what did he say?"

"That I should stay out of his business, that I'm a blunt instrument and so forth. He alluded that he doesn't want the Reapers destroyed, instead he wants to control them."

Miranda was processing the last bit of information. Liara had not told her that, she tried to reason why Cerberus and the Illusive Man would do that. She frowned, "That's...he saw them as a threat years ago when my mission was to recruit you." She sighed, "What changed? That's not the old organization I joined."

Shepard shrugged, "All he ever wanted was the Collector base. You were there. He's power hungry, want to control everything for his own delusional plans. He has even turned his troops into husks."

Once again Miranda was perplexed at what Shepard was telling her. "He what?"

"Yeah, somehow he's gotten his hands on Reaper tech, under their armor they look like husks."

When Miranda had joined Cerberus two decades ago they had good intentions, although their actions had been questionable at times. The Cerberus she had joined did not exist anymore. The experiments on children like Jack were sickening. Project Overlord was also an atrocity that should have never happened. What she had done while with Cerberus had never been near those projects, although in the long run she could only wonder what her projects had led to that she did not know of. She was still surprised that Shepard wanted her in his life considering her past. But did not dwell on those thoughts anymore, it would only consume her. Instead she gladly accepted his presence in her life.

Finally she said, "We got enough problems as it is, that Cerberus is fighting us is a can of worms waiting to open. Do you think that Cerberus works for the Reapers?"

"I have no idea." Shepard replied as the elevator slowed down.

The elevator stopped and opened to reveal Garrus waiting for the elevator. He greeted the pair, "Shepard. Lawson, welcome aboard."

Miranda greeted politely, "Hello Garrus. Thank you."

"Garrus, what are you doing down here?" Shepard acknowledged Garrus a little more enthusiastic then Miranda had done. Miranda and Shepard stepped out of the elevator so Garrus could walk into it. The turian stood at the edge of the elevator so the door wouldn't close.

"Doing maintenance on my Viper."

Miranda watched the two of them small talk regarding the turian's maintenance on his trusted weapon. Something about a new barrel so he could reach out to targets further out. She was amazed how the two friends could just continue their banter even if years or months had passed. She remembered that after they rescued _'Archangel'_ on Omega over a year ago the turian had accepted the presence of John Shepard, who had died two years prior, and had joined Shepard without further ado.

It was nothing less then astonishing how they got along. Something she was jealous of. But she came to the sudden realization that John and she had continued _their_ relationship today even after months apart and as if nothing had changed. But the close friendship between John and Garrus made her feel like the third wheel, something she was not fond of, she felt out of place. She regularly wondered who of them were closer to Shepard, sans the physical closeness that only she had with John.

She slowly came back to reality as the two friends said their goodbyes and Garrus turned to the elevator. Before the door closed she sad truthfully said, "I'm sorry about Palaven, Garrus."

The turian stopped and turned to the two humans and was surprised at Miranda's words, not something he had expected. "Yeah, thanks Lawson." He said before the doors shut in front of him.

When Miranda turned to Shepard he gave her a small smile, "That was nice of you. He's been troubled with Palaven."

"I suspected as much. Still I mean what I said." She said almost defensively.

"I didn't say you didn't mean what you said."

Miranda glanced at the cargo bay, "It almost looks like it did last time."

"Well, except all the lockers of weapons. The armory has been moved down here per Alliance regulations." Shepard gestured with his behind at the row of lockers and crates behind him.

"I see. While we're at it, I don't have any armor with me."

"We have enough to go around, but if you want to you can always purchase whatever you feel you need." Shepard pointed at the computer that Cortez had set up. "It is connected to retailers on the Citadel, buy what you want and we will pick it up whenever we get back to the Citadel."

Miranda teased, "Crafty, but my tastes are above your pay grade."

Shepard grinned and watched her with desire, "Well, then you have to make do with your suite."

"I think you will be too distracted if I wore this into combat." She nudged his shoulder teasingly

"Probably." Shepard agreed, he could barely contain himself around her on the ship, so Miranda in armor was always preferable. Shepard continued, "It was Lieutenant Cortez's idea with the computer. He's our pilot and shares armor duty with Vega who usually resides behind the alcove of crates." Shepard gestured to the left side of the cargo bay. Cortez was nowhere to be found and the cargo bay was void of crewmembers, with the probable exception of Vega behind his crates.

Miranda smiled mischievous, "Oh, I already met him."

"Vega?"

"Yes, while I was eating. He tried to chat me up." Miranda smirked a bit.

Shepard's eyes widened, not out of anger or mistrust at anyone, but surprise. His voice went up an octave, "He what?"

"Oh, is the stoic Commander Shepard jealous?" Her smirk widened.

"No, I'm just..." He trailed of a bit as he glanced at the alcove. "...Surprised is all." It was degrading for both of them if he was jealous. Although he did feel annoyed to say the least. He turned back to Miranda who clearly enjoyed the situation, "So what did you say?"

"I alluded that I might be in a relationship with an Alliance officer." She shrugged still smirking, "After some thinking the young Lieutenant came to a conclusion and appeared anxious."

Shepard chuckled, "Maybe he thought you were with Joker."

Miranda rolled her eyes at the thought of it and muttered, "Please."

"So, Vega's unhurt? Is he breathing?" Shepard pretended to be worried about the fate of Vega.

Shepard could not help but smirk as Miranda rolled her eyes again, "Yes, he's very much alive." She paused for a moment and said dismissively, "I don't like him."

"Oh, well he grew on me."

She snorted, "I am not surprised."

"He's a good guy." _Despite his transgression._

"Well, _John_, I'm an excellent judge of character."

Shepard teased, "Considering that you dismissed me at first I find that statement sorely wrong."

Miranda crossed her arms and glared at Shepard, leaning on one of her hips, a stance which Shepard found very sexy. Something he had of course told her on more than one occasion so Shepard merely smirked.

* * *

Shepard and Miranda had ended the tour of the ship and eventually left Normandy for the Purgatory Bar. Before leaving the cargo bay Shepard had walked over to Vega's alcove where he could be found doing push-ups. As he had earpieces in his ears playing music he had not heard that the pair was in the cargo bay. At the sight of Shepard, with Miranda behind him smirking, Vega had snapped to attention and saluted Shepard, appearing nervous. Shepard looked unapproving at Vega and eventually told him to carry on his exercises before he walked away. Shepard had decided that confronting Vega was unnecessary considering Miranda had already had her fun on his expense, so he had merely made his presence known. And if Vega made the same transgression again Miranda would no doubt smear the wall with him so Shepard was neither jealous nor worried about any future outcome.

With their arms looped the couple had reached the night club. Shepard morbidly thought it was amusing that people was partying considering the state of the galaxy. But he figured people needed to vent their frustrations and handle their stress somehow, considering that both Miranda and he handled it in their own way. Inside it was party hour, the bass was beating as people where drinking and dancing away the galaxy's problem. Shepard found it bizarre.

The pair went up the stairs to the main floor. Neither Shepard nor Miranda had ever been at this club and was looking for the VIP Lounge. Upstairs? No that was a dance floor and a bar. To his right he noticed a set of couches with an asari sitting on one of them, flanked by two batarian body guards. And it was apparent who that was. But his eyes caught the familiar stature of another person he recognized. Shepard could recognize the yellow tinted armor, scarred face and crew cut anywhere. It was Zaeed Massani He was standing a few meters away from Aria, tapping away on his omni-tool.

Shepard tugged a bit on Miranda's arm and tilted his head to where they should go. Miranda nodded and they continued to the VIP Lounge. They ended up next to Zaeed and let go of their arms. Down the VIP Lounge the music was not as loud and people could speak without screaming. The mercenary turned to the movement on his left and frowned but quickly recognized the pair and gave Shepard his trade mark grin.

"Goddamn Shepard!"

"Zaaed." The two men shook hands.

Zaeed gave Miranda a courteous nod which she returned.

Shepard gazed on Aria, "So you with her now?"

"No." Zaeed shook his head, " I'm freelancing, but she wan'ed me service an' are offerin' a sizable amoun' of credits."

Shepard nodded and from the corner of his eye he saw that Aria had noticed him. She gestured that she wanted his presence but Shepard ignored it for the moment.

"You never responded to my message." Shepard said as he turned his attention to the ageing mercenary.

"What bloody message? I 'ave not used my old accoun' for months, I 'ad a fallout with Cerberus an' wan' ter to be of the radar."

Miranda had listened into the conversation between the two but had not said a word. She never liked the mercenary, he was to crude, but she saw his uses considering his abilities. That John apparently approved of Massani was without doubt peculiar to Miranda.

"We can reminisce later, the asari want' ter talk to you." Zaeed gestured with his hand at Aria.

"All right." Shepard watched Aria with amusement who looked annoyed for every second she was ignored. He spoke to Zaeed, "It was good seeing you again. We should talk later."

"Definitely." Zaeed growled.

Shepard and Miranda walked to the couches and took a seat in front of Aria. Zaeed did the same but sat away from the group. His business with Aria had not been taken care of.

"I don't like to wait." Aria said explained.

"I don't particularly care." Shepard answered evenly. He was still not happy about being dragged from the bed and Miranda and could easily blame Aria for offense.

Aria looked with amusement on Miranda who sat close to Shepard. She scarcely remembered the Cerberus Operative and quickly noticed that she lacked the Cerberus logo on her skin-tight suit. _So Shepard had found a young woman to keep him warm?_ _Interesting. Former Cerberus as well._ It did not take many seconds for Aria to figure out that the two was an item. The body language and sitting so close to each other gave away everything. _Not very subtle, Shepard._

Aria gave Shepard a mischievous smirk, "I see that you listened to my advice. You found yourself a woman to keep you warm."

Shepard did not acknowledge her retort and asked, "You wanted to talk about Cerberus?"

Miranda was leaning back; she did not appreciate the asari's words. She clamped down and fought the urge to tell the de facto ruler of Omega to mind her own business.

"Straight to business as always." Aria mused. "Do you want to deliver a blow to Cerberus operations? As I understand, they're even more of an _'enemy of the state'_ now than ever."

Miranda asked evenly, "What have they done to you?"

Aria turned to Miranda, "Your former employer attacked Omega, seized control and kicked me out."

"Because?" Shepard asked.

"They wanted a forward operating base for operations past the Omega 4 Relay."

Shepard began going through the asari's words. _Omega 4? How did they get through the relay? We have the IFF! But that explains their altered people of course._ Shepard glanced over on Miranda who was also deep in thought. Shepard finally turned to Aria, "And why should I help you?"

"They have imposed martial law, they have been executing residents and who knows what else."

"I got my own mission." Shepard responded evenly.

"I'll pledge all mercenary forces to fight the Reapers. If we don't destroy them we're all fucked."

Shepard scratched his head, "And why would I want mercenaries on Earth? They can't be trusted." Shepard smiled darkly, "Are there even anyone left after my campaign against them last year?"

Aria spoke coolly, "The Blue Suns are in disarray with the leadership gone. They're begging for one and I can provide that."

Shepard tilted his head at the mercenary, "That's why Zaeed is here?"

Zaeed shook his head, "No Shepard, I killed Vido a few days ago. I'm not in'erested in that bunch."

Shepard was surprised, "You did?"

"Yeah."

Aria interrupted, "No, Mr. Massani is here because I need seasoned people in this operation. The Blood Pack is still somewhat functional, the Eclipse is also in disarray, but what all the groups need is leadership. I will install me people soon enough."

"It seems you have enough fire power, why me?"

Aria said bluntly, "I need the Normandy to breach the defenses stealthy. I need you and your skills for the ground mission. Help me and you get merc forces for the Reaper War."

Shepard was considering her offer. Additional forces were good, but he was wary of the mercenaries. On the other hand if Aria controls them they could be an asset as well as a lesser threat in the future. And regardless, there will always be mercenary groups around. Plus attacking Cerberus was an attractive thought. He turned to Miranda.

"What do you think?"

Miranda had listened intently to the asari. She had her misgivings about Aria and her mercenary groups, but she couldn't deny what this operation could do against Cerberus. She suspected Shepard was thinking along the same lines.

"It could hurt Cerberus, John."

Aria chuckled, "You should listen to your girlfriend, _John_."

Miranda glared at Aria but said nothing, Aria smirked.

Shepard nodded, "You are right, Ms. Lawson." With the summit a week away this was as good time as any to attack Cerberus operations and who knew what they would be tasked with afterwards, time was of the essence. Shepard turned to Aria, "Enemy force composition?"

"Battalion size." Aria answered matter-of-factly. "A small fleet of frigates and ground forces are probably supported by air units."

Shepard said sarcastically, "You want me to go up against a minimum of 1000 Cerberus..." Shepard tried his best to find an appropriate word as he did not want to use the word _'soldier'_ to describe the abominations. "...Troops?"

"No Shepard, I want you to sneak in, take out their defenses and the Command Center. Then my forces will assault Omega."

"How many do you have?"

"1500, I might get 2000. I got shuttles, gunships, a few interceptors and warships."

At least Aria had a substantial force with her. Shepard eyed Zaeed who had been quiet, "What's your part in this?"

Zaeed shrugged, "Don't really know, we were to discuss my participation soon. Probably leadin' some group durin' the assault."

Shepard was still in dire need of people for his own team, and Zaeed was on his list. "You want to join me instead? I could need your skills, Zaeed. I'm unsure how much I can pay you; I might get you some money from the Alliance, but no promises."

Zaeed carefully watched Shepard in the couch. He knew what Shepard was capable off; getting them through the Collector mission with minimal casualties was close to a goddamn miracle. "How many do you got with you?"

"We're five, six with you." Shepard confidently ignored Aria's comment.

The chance of surviving with Shepard in command was greater than with any hack of a mercenary leader, Zaeed thought. But considering all the crazy missions they had gone through last year the chance of dying was also equally as big. But they were still doomed if the Reapers won, and any team under Shepard's command would be one of the best in the galaxy. Considering that his retirement plans would be wasted if the Reapers won, and considering with the amount of money he had tucked away he wanted to be able to spend them when all was said and done.

After a few moments of silence with both Aria and Shepard watching him he said evenly, "I'm in."

Aria sighed, "Mr. Massani, I thought we would come to an business agreement,"

"No, we 'ad no deal, we were gonna discuss my potential employment. But I'll go with Shepard an' be a goddamned 'ero instead."

Shepard grinned, "Welcome aboard." He turned to Aria who was furious, "We will help you take back Omega. Anyway we can disrupt Cerberus operations is good in my book. Just and don' try to stab me T'Loak. You don't want to be my enemy"

"They have a way of dying." Miranda smirked at Aria, borrowing a few words Garrus said on Purgatory Station when they picked up Jack.

Massani was one of Aria's trump cards but seeing as Shepard was willing to help with the retaking of Omega, loosing Massani to Shepard had no adverse impact. At least she did not need to pay for his services.

Shepard shrugged, "If you still want my help with Omega of course."

Aria nodded, "Yes."

"Good. I suspect you have more information than what you've told me?"

Aria nodded.

"Come to the Normandy in an hour or so to brief us, it's a lot better than being here. When do you want this operation carried out? I got a window of one week before I'm needed for official business."

"As soon as possible."

"Alright, I want to hear your actual plan before I commit. And come unarmed."

Aria snorted, "Fine, Shepard. We will play this your way. For now."

Shepard rose from the couch, as did Miranda and Zaeed, and they quickly left Aria. Shepard stopped after they had left the Lounge and turned to Zaeed.

"Good to have you back."

Zaeed grinned, "Just don't get us all killed."

Shepard chuckled, "I'll try." He said, "The Normandy is docked on Docking Bay D24, get there in time before Aria shows up."

"Got it. I'll see you around Shepard." Zaeed walked away towards the exit and left Miranda and Shepard.

"So, we are going to help Aria?" Miranda asked. She was still not sure she wanted Zaeed Massani onboard, he had behaved on their previous missions, but she thought he was a vile man. But she figured that as long as Jack didn't join them she would have no real problems with anyone else from their old team.

Shepard turned to her, "Yeah, we can hit Cerberus and maybe uncover some intelligence on their operations." The two of them started to walk towards the exit. "But I'm going to check her story with Liara, see what she finds."

Miranda nodded, "I agree, but I can't help but feel hesitant about helping Aria. If things play out the wrong way, she can be immensely powerful after the war."

Shepard sighed as the doors opened, "Yeah, I can understand your reasoning. But extraordinary times require extraordinary measures. And she is still better than most in her business."

Miranda understood the gravity of the situation and she figured that Shepard was right. The alliance he was building needed all the help they could get. The pair headed for the elevator and took it to the more respectable parts of the Presidium Commons.

* * *

_**So I tried to write Zaeed a little different when he is talking. Tell me what you think, if the consensus is that you don't think its good I'll revert to normal English writing. Considering I have no idea to write Zaeed's accent. But I wanted it to differentiate from the others.**_

_**Quotes from: Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Star Trek (2009).**_

_**I'm a little unsure about some stuff in this chapter but I put the ground work for a new mission plus I had Zaeed join so I'm quite content. I felt that returning to Omega to battle the Cerberus troops there could make for an interesting as well as an original mission.**_

_**Edited (2012-07-25): A few changes in dialogue.  
**_

_****__**Edited (2012-08-21): Removed when Miranda asks Zaeed what Cerberus did to him (it will be addressed in Operation Omega: Part 1)  
**_

_**Thanks for the reviews!  
**_

_**Edited (09/30/2012): Thanks to reader "torexile" that pointed out a vast amount of grammatical errors throughout the story that are being changed. **_


	13. Aria's Story

_**Disclaimer: For those that haven't read Mass Effect Ascension, Retribution, Deception, Invasion as well as Conviction (or read the storylines) there will be slight spoilers further into this chapter. Some slight creative liberties taken.**_

* * *

Victus was getting more and more tired at his supposedly allies. The asari was of course not coming. The salarians had agreed to the summit as it was their plan after all, but they scoffed at the idea of the krogans attending. They wanted the Council members to tackle the Reapers. But without the overwhelming force of the krogans, Victus felt that the war could turn into a losing fight. He needed the krogan horde to counter-attack Palaven.

Shepard's unified alliance needed the krogans, everything was riding on them. But at least Urdnot Wrex seemed like a reasonable man. Well, as reasonable as possible for a krogan. Wrex had finally agreed to the summit, no doubt because Shepard would be there. They were getting closer now so a day in the Council Chambers had not been a waste. And it was these revelations that he just had briefed Garrus on, and now they were waiting for Shepard apparently, according to the ship's AI. Which was a surprising addition to an Alliance vessel, and that they had still let it be activated since claiming the ship from Cerberus was even more surprising.

"At least we are getting somewhere." Garrus mused. They were standing near the door in the forward batteries.

"Yes, if only it went a little faster forward, we just need to push the salarians some more and find a suitable location to rendezvous."

Garrus nodded, "I agree but I have some faith in Wrex, he will listen to reason. It's only the cost to get them to join us that could be too much for the salarians."

Victus asked, "Curing the genophage you think?"

"That or massive reparations. Maybe handing back their old planets and systems. Or both." A cure for the genophage was years away according to Mordin Solus. Garrus had been groundside when they helped Mordin finding his former assistant and saving the cure. Garrys had been conflicted about the decision, it could come back and bite them in the ass, but even Garrus had faith in Wrex as the krogan leader. And considering their current predicament, saving all those files could very well be the saving grace they needed to get the krogans onboard.

"Well, I rather have a grateful ally then-"

The door to the forward batteries opened and Shepard stepped in and greeted the two.

"Commander, you wanted to talk?" Victus asked as the human walked up to them.

"Yes. But how did your work on the summit turn out?"

Victus shook his head in exasperation, "We're getting there, slowly. But the salarians are still hesitant." Victus sighed, "There's a lot of bureaucracy and red tape to go through before we can finalize anything."

"I understand. Primarch, we will probably leave the Citadel soon for an anti-Cerberus operation."

Both turians watched Shepard puzzled.

"What are you up to, Shepard? Both you and Lawson left earlier."

Shepard turned to his friend, "Aria T'Loak wanted to talk to me about hitting Cerberus. Apparently she lost Omega to Cerberus."

"I don't recall hearing anything about that, but I have to confess that I haven't kept tabs on Omega for some time." Garrus mused.

"I have more or less committed to aiding Aria. To hamper Cerberus operations is welcomed and we might even find some useful intelligence."

Victus asked, "You are leaving?"

Shepard nodded, "Yes, in two hours or so I would believe. We will be back in a week in time for the summit."

"No plan ever survives contact with the enemy, Commander."

"I know. Primarch I'd like you to leave the ship before we depart. I don't think it would be wise to bring you to Omega."

Victus was about to balk at Shepard's words, his military mind didn't want to stay out of the fight, but Shepard raised his hands to stop Victus from talking.

"Sir, you are a valuable part of the summit, of the alliance we're building. I can't risk your life. Plus, you are no soldier anymore."

Victus sighed and conceded, "Very well, Shepard. You are right; I'll arrange living quarters on the Citadel."

"Good, your Councilor will surely aid you in any way he can. We will pick you up for the summit."

Miranda's voice was heard from the speakers, _"Commander? Liara has found information on Omega."_

"Good, I'll be at her office shortly."

"Yes, Commander."

Shepard turned to Garrus, "Aria will arrive in half an hour or so to brief us. Come to the conference room in time."

"You got it."

Shepard nodded acknowledging, "Zaeed will be joining us to."

"He will? I can see his uses. What are you paying him?"

"Nothing, he more or less accepted to join for free. Maybe some back pay after the war, if I can secure it."

Garrus mused, "Free? I would have never imagined that."

Shepard spoke before turning to the door, "I'll see you after the operation, Primarch."

"Indeed. Good luck Commander."

"Thank you."

* * *

Shepard entered Liara's office to find both her and Miranda at the array of monitors, sifting through information. When Miranda and Shepard had returned to the Normandy, Shepard had called for Liara over the intercom and instructed her to find whatever she could regarding Cerberus' invasion of Omega. Shepard was not entirely sure Aria would tell the whole story and he wanted whatever could be found.

Liara turned to Shepard, "Good of you to come."

Shepard walked over to the two women. Miranda and Shepard shared a quick look and a greeting smile as he stopped at her side. He turned to the asari, "What do you got, Liara?"

"Actually not much considering the short time I had, but I do have some intelligence in my archives. But as I said before, Omega was lost about five months ago, or rather cut off from the rest of the Terminus."

"Cerberus." Shepard stated coolly.

"Yes, that much I have known for some time, but have not bothered with it. I had other things on my mind."

"I understand Liara."

Miranda informed Shepard, "Apparently it's quite fascinating revelations she has found."

Liara nodded, "Indeed. Aria worked with Cerberus but something happened and she teamed up with Admiral Anderson-"

Shepard interrupted Liara surprised, "Anderson?"

"Yes. And some woman named Kahlee Sanders to find a Cerberus Operative that had been taken captured by a biotic supremacist movement."

"Why would Aria work with Anderson to track down a Cerberus Operative?"

Liara shook her head, "I don't know the details, but something happened between Aria and

Cerberus. If I had more time I could probably find you some more information."

"What was the name of the Cerberus Operative?" Miranda inquired.

"I only got an alias; Manning."

Miranda spat put disgusted, "That slippery bastard is still alive?"

Shepard turned to Miranda confused, "Who is that?"

"His real name is Kai Leng, former Lieutenant in the Alliance, graduated N7 Special Operations. He murdered a krogan and got sentenced to life. Very Xenophobic."

"Do you know him?"

"I know_ off_ him. I have had a few short interactions but nothing more. He is an assassin for the Illusive Man. Cerberus helped him escape ten years ago."

Liara shrugged, "This is all the information I have. Aria and Cerberus continued to work together after their falling out."

"What were they working together for?"

"I don't know Shepard."

"It's more then we knew a few minutes ago. Liara, I want you at the conference room when Aria comes. She'll be here soon."

"I'll be there."

Shepard turned to Miranda, "Maybe Aria will shed some light on all this. I really want to know what Anderson's involvement was."

"I agree, this is a complicated affair."

EDI's voice was heard in the room, "Commander? Zaeed Massani has just arrived."

"Great I'll come up. Can you send up James to the CIC in a few minutes?"

"As you wish Commander."

"I'll talk to you two later; I'll have to greet our guest." Shepard turned to the door.

* * *

Shepard exited the elevator and walked past the Galaxy Map and headed through the corridoer where Zaeed was leaning on the wall next to the air lock. At his foot there was a large duffel bag.

"Welcome aboard, Zaeed."

Zaeed straightened himself from the wall and picked up his bag when Shepard approached.

"Thanks. The old girl looks like she used ter even wiv the new paintjob an' all the Alliance logos instead ov the Cerberus ones."

"Yeah it does." The two began walking down the corridor for the elevator.

Zaeed mused, "You know. This is the first time since -59 that I've stepped foot on a bloody Alliance vessel. Time flies by."

"That is a long time indeed. You got any weapons with you?"

"Only one. Jessie. I got a repair ki' an' in'end ter fight one last war wiv 'er."

Shepard tried to remember what he was talking about and slowly remembered an old battered and rusty rifle. Shepard chuckled, "That old gun, can it even shoot?"

"Oi, watch i' kid. Its older then you an' 'ave has been wiv me in a lot ov crazy jobs. It's killed mawer people than the Spanish flu."

"I'll take your word on it. You killed Vido?"

"Yeah, tanks ter our campaign last year, the Blue Suns are still in disarray as Aria said, an' I found 'im 'idin' on some godforsaken rock in the Terminus."

"What did you do?"

Zaeed grinned, "He was shacked up in a camp an' I blew 'is 'ead right ov wiv a M98 from a hill. It was a beautiful sight."

The two vent past the Galaxy Map and stopped at the elevator when the doors opened and Vega stepped out.

Shepard turned to Zaeed, "Well, it's good that it sorted itself out."

"Yeah, i' bloody is." Zaeed eyed Vega skeptically and grinned, "Is dis one even old enuff ter fight?"

Vega crossed his arms defensively. "Hey, watch it old man."

"And lively an' all." Zaeed smirked.

Shepard could not help and smirked as well at their exchange, "James this is Zaeed Massani.

Mercenary and generally a dangerous man. You caught him on a good day."

The two actually shook hands to Shepard's surprised considering that Zaeed tried to push Vega's buttons.

Zaeed turned to Shepard and asked diplomatically,, "So is your Lawson still XO?"

Shepard nodded, "Yeah. And you can find Garrus in the forward battery."

"Right then, good ter know."

"I will have a marine put a cot down in your old place later."

"Great, I'll get sorted then."

"Aria will be here soon so I want everyone from the team in the conference room. Just go through the door over there." Shepard gestured.

"I'll be there soon enough." Zaeed said as he opened the door to the elevator.

"Good."

Zaeed gave Shepard and Vega a nod before the door closed and the elevator descended.

Vega turned confused to Shepard. "Do you mean Aria T'Loak? What's going on?"

"Have you ever been to Omega?"

"Yeah." Vega had stayed on the station after Fehl Prime last year, and had occupied his mind on booze, strippers and card games. Then out of nowhere had Admiral Anderson showed up with a new mission for him, to guard the very man who was standing before him now.

"Ah, then you will be prepared already. So I guess you know who Aria is?"

Vega nodded, "Although I have never met her."

"She has asked us to help liberate Omega from Cerberus. They're using it as a FOB for operations beyond the Omega 4 Relay."

"Okay."

"We will probably depart later tonight. Aria will arrive soon and I want you to escort her to the conference room. Only her."

"You got it Shepard."

Shepard nodded approvingly, "Then you know your orders marine."

"Sir? I'm sorry, if I had known about you and the XO I wo-"

Shepard held up a hand and chided him, although Shepard was not entirely serious, "Alright LT, we have more important issues to handle at the moment then your transgression.""

"Roger that Commander." Vega wised up.

* * *

Time was slowly ticking by and people began arriving in the conference room. Liara and Garrus were sitting at the one of the table's long side. Miranda arrived and greeted the two as she took a seat on one of the short sides, trying to make herself comfortable in the chair, which was not the most comfortable. The door leading from the guard post opened with a hiss and Zaeed walked through and entered the glass-encased conference room.

"Zaeed." Garrus greeted from his chair. He smirked, "I heard a rumor that you where on board."

"Vakarian." Zaeed took a seat in front of Garrus.

"I Didn't think you did pro bono work." The turian's mandibles twitched into a grin.

Zaeed snorted, "Oi, shut i' Vakarian. If we don't pull our own weight in dis mess we're pret'y screwed ter the wall, aren't we?"

"You don't have to tell me twice." Garrus replied. "What brought you to the Citadel?"

"Aria wan'ed me services fer the upcomin' attack on Omega. I thought i' was good money, but your 'ero showed up an' I figured i' would be be'er ter 'ry out the mawer respectable business wiv Shepard instead then wiv some random mercenaries."

Garrus smirked, "The pay is not as good."

"Well, sometimes yew 'ave ter fight fer mawer than money."

Miranda had listened to their conversation. Massani always had his way around words, she thought sarcastically. Although she was surprised by his last statements, she had always figured he was a man that fought for money. Maybe his home world burning changed that? She had narrowed down his birthplace to London last year considering his accent.

The door opened and Shepard stepped through and walked to the conference room. He stopped in the entrance and every one watched him.

Shepard smirked, "I see that everyone is here. Good. Well, except the woman of the hour." Shepard received some light-hearted chuckles in response.

He proceeded to sit down on a chair closest to Miranda with his back to the wall so he could see the guard room door. Shepard nudged one of Miranda's boots with his own. She turned and gave him a quizzing look before he gave her a small smile which she returned.

The minutes ticked by as everyone mostly sat in silence and eventually the door opened and Vega walked through with Aria in tow. Shepard rose from the table as they walked in to the conference room.

"Welcome to the Normandy." Shepard greeted cordially.

Aria looked around the glass-encased cubicle and Shepard's team around the table before she sat down in front of Shepard who proceeded to sit down as well. Vega took up position in a corner and leaned against the glass wall.

Aria nodded, "Who would have thought that I would ever step onboard this famous vessel." She smirked, "It's a little cramped then I imagined."

"Military vessels usually are." Shepard shrugged.

"Yes. Let's get down to business, shall we?"

Shepard nodded; he was very intrigued what Aria would tell them. "So, how did you get into this mess?"

Aria straightened herself in the seat. She felt anxious about opening up to others, she played things close to the vest, but she knew that she had to get Shepard to help her.

"We have to go back to earlier this year. I had hired a young human male to work for me, taking care of various operations. He, Paul Grayson, was apparently on the run from Cerberus the past three years. Something I did not know at first."

Shepard glanced on Miranda who sat quiet, listening while Aria had talked. "Do you know of Grayson?"

Miranda turned to Shepard, "I know that he carried out missions for the Illusive Man. He was the one that led a Cerberus team assaulting the Migrant Fleet three years ago. He wanted to save his daughter who he believed had been taken by the quarians."

Shepard scarcely remembered their first mission to Freedom's Progress where they had encountered. Tali had told them about a Cerberus attack on their fleet. Shepard nodded to Miranda and turned back to Aria who was now quiet, although she didn't express it, Shepard noticed sadness in her eyes. Eyes told more than body language could.

Aria decided that Shepard and his team did not need to know her personal loss; it was none of their concern. Shepard would probably help her either way considering what he had told her and that they were here discussing the mission. Eventually Aria continued with an even voice, "Someone close to me was killed."

Shepard could see the effect this had on Aria, although he did not know who she was talking about. Eventually he said, "I'm sorry, Aria. For what it's worth."

Aria looked up on Shepard, appearing stoic, but was surprised at Shepard's sincerity. She nodded,

"Thank you Shepard."

"So, did Grayson kill this person?"

"No, I thought so at first as the person in question had been killed his apartment and Grayson was missing."

"Cerberus." Miranda breathed.

Aria nodded, "Yes. The Illusive Man tricked me into believing that Grayson killed this person and thus persuaded me to work with him. But I eventually learned the truth; a Cerberus Operative had done it while capturing Grayson."

"Eventually I found out his name, Kai Leng, and hired the Blue Suns to eliminate him. They failed. Instead he was captured by a biotic supremacist group. I struck a deal with the Illusive Man to rescue Leng, but I had other intentions. I wanted him dead."

Shepard nodded. Taking in to account what Liara had told him earlier it appeared that Aria's story collaborated with what he already knew.

"I organized a small army to find him; I also worked with your Admiral Anderson. We raided the base of the Biotic Underground as they are called, but we were too late. Kai Leng was being ransomed to the Illusive Man, but Leng escaped."

"Why did Anderson join you?" Shepard asked.

"He and his accomplice, Kahlee Sanders, wanted to find Grayson at first, although he had later been killed while he attacked Grissom Academy."

"I haven't heard anything about that." Shepard mused. He was surprised that Anderson had not told him about something like that. Although they didn't meet while he was incarcerated.

"I can't tell you much myself, but apparently Grayson was killed by Leng."

"Oh?"

"Yes, Anderson mentioned that the nano-upgrades that Cerberus had installed on Grayson were Reaper technology. Cerberus probably wanted to continue their research on him."

"It's never easy with those bastards, is there?" Garrus asked rhetorically.

"How did you learn about Leng's true identity?" Miranda asked.

Aria hesitated at first but said, "I had promised to help Anderson find Leng in exchange for files that Grayson had forwarded to Sanders before he was killed on Grissom. But…I had my hackers obtain that information so I could find Leng and kill him. The Alliance wanted him arrested."

Shepard leaned back into his chair and frowned, "You are not exactly selling your trustworthiness Aria by being untrue to your word."

Aria snapped, finally letting on who had been killed, "Leng killed my daughter! I needed to find him before he escaped! I needed him dead!"

The people in attendance were not prepared to hear about a daughter, no one knew that Aria even had a child.

Shepard said calmly, "I'm sorry Aria, but he did escape, and he was captured by a third party."

Aria sighed, "Yes."

Miranda asked, "So this would have been betrayal prompted Cerberus to attack you?"

"No, I continued to work with them, I had granted them the use of Omega as a supply hub as they set up a base beyond the Omega 4 Relay."

"What could make you do that after they killed your daughter?" Shepard asked.

"Business. Plus a part of me hoped that Leng would return so I could kill him."

"Okay." Shepard couldn't understand the reasoning, but it was probably not really his business to push and prod.

"Eventually a Cerberus ship docked with Omega and strange creatures emerged and began killing."

Shepard snorted, "Another Cerberus project gone awry."

"Yes, one would think so, I'll get to that. Soon after the attack another Cerberus vessel emerged, this one commanded by a General Oleg Petrovsky, who was on Omega to fend off the invaders called Adjutants."

Aria continued after a moment's pause, "To make a long story short, we battled them but it became apparent that this was a Cerberus plan all along. The Adjutants had been part of the Illusive Man's plans to conquer Omega."

Vega asked from his corner, uneasy about the Adjutants. "Question: these Adjutants are they still there?" Vega was silently relieved that Anderson had arrived to Omega and picked him up before Cerberus attacked.

Aria turned to Vega, "No, they were purged."

"What are they?" Miranda asked.

Aria turned to Miranda, "Cerberus created them and they infect victims and in turn victims slowly turn into Adjutants themselves."

"More strange creatures to fight. Fun." Vega muttered sarcastically.

"I wonder how Cerberus got through the Relay." Shepard turned to Miranda and asked.

Miranda shrugged, "Maybe when we destroyed the Collector base any safeguards that were in place was removed and anyone can get through."

"Maybe." Shepard turned to Aria, "This Petrovsky? Do you know off him?"

Miranda nodded, "I have heard of him, he's an experienced and formidable soldier, spent time in Alliance Special Forces before going to Cerberus. He was dissastified with how the Alliance treated the impending threat of the Reapers and the fate of humanity."

Shepard nodded, "I see." He turned to Aria, "So you have a plan?"

Aria smirked, "Yes, I need you and your ship to lead my fleet. With your stealth capabilities you can drop right out of FTL and wreck havoc."

"Yeah, but if they see us come through the relay all the stealth in the galaxy won't help."

Aria shrugged," I didn't say it would be easy."

Vega murmured, "Only suicidal."

Shepard smirked as he turned to Vega, "Have some faith James. Suicidal is our forte."

Miranda rolled her eyes at Shepard's foolish statement and unnoticeably kicked him on the ankle under the table, although Shepard didn't flinch.

Aria continued, "My fleet will wait in the Skepsis System in Sigurd's Cradle cluster. You will rendezvous with us there and head to Omega which will take roughly two hours. Once there, recon the system and after that send word for my fleet about the enemy's positions and when my fleet arrives we will proceed to engage Cerberus."

Shepard turned to Miranda, "How many ships can we expect?"

"A normal fleet for defensive operations of this scale contains 4 to 6 warships, cruisers and frigates. And the frigates are the bulk of the force."

Shepard turned to Aria, "Not too bad plan, our shuttles do have stealth capabilities as well, we could proceed to infiltrate Omega before your fleet arrives, attack them on two fronts. Open up Omega for your mercenary forces. Just remember that the Normandy can travel undetected for five hours before we have to vent our sinks so you better get to Omega without lingering."

Aria did not expect that the shuttles would be stealthy as well. This could give them an unprecedented advantage over Cerberus. "Understood Shepard. As our ships engage the fleet the invasion force will attack Omega. If Omega is infiltrated and their command center and air defenses are taken down, or at least disrupted, the invasion could move much more smoothly."

"And how many ships do you have?"

"Two frigates and one cruiser plus a dreadnought that is converted to a carrier."

"So where is this 'command center' you are talking about?"

"In Afterlife."

"We will probably not be able to just waltz in." Shepard mused.

"Yes that's why I want to join your team for this operation." Arai explained casually.

This surprised Shepard as he watched Aria careful; "Why?"

"They killed my daughter and occupied Omega, that's reason enough. And you'll need my knowledge on Omega and Afterlife."

"Can you obey my orders?"

"Yes." Aria responded calmly.

Shepard figured she was most likely a formidable biotic and was a good fighter, and that she knows Omega better than he or the rest of the team could very well be needed for this mission. . But she probably had no allegiance to anyone then herself, especially since she lied to Anderson when dealing with him, so that gave Shepard reason to pause, but he couldn't deny her reasoning.

"My terms are as follows; I'm in charge and my team is my responsibility; I don't want you to jeopardize their lives. I'll listen to suggestions but I make the call if we act on anything. Deal?" He eyed Miranda to see if she had any objections. But she remained neutral.

"Deal." Aria responded.

Shepard smiled, "Good. Welcome to the team Aria."

Aria nodded. "Are you ready to leave soon?"

"Yes." Shepard answered, "Are you coming with us?"

"No." Aria explained, "I have things to do regarding my own force. I'll meet you in the Skepsis System."

"That's fine."

* * *

The elevator door opened with a hiss and Shepard walked out into the hall outside his quarters. He had dismissed the team from the conference room earlier and had escorted Aria to the airlock and now the Normandy were a few minutes from the relay and a three day trip to Sigurd's Cradle and the Skepsis system. He had a lot on his mind, Omega would no doubt be heavily defended, and they needed to infiltrate it without being detected and that would be no small feat. Disrupting the command center would no doubt make it easier to fight the ground units, but the Normandy and the mercenary ships would still have battle the Cerberus fleet. Although they had fought through worse in the past to Shepard was not entirely wary of the upcoming battle. They said the Collector mission was a suicide mission and they managed that one.

He opened the door to his quarters and walked in, the lights were dimed and the only source of light came from the fish tank and a light near the couches. Music was being played through the speakers, some classical piece. No doubt that Miranda was around. He continued down the stairs and found Miranda resting in the couch with her eyes shut and soaking in the music. On the table was two glasses, one was empty the other was half full, and there was a bottle of wine present. The two of them were of course an enigma considering everything that brought them to this moment. Their tastes differed so much Shepard could not help but chuckle at times. He didn't really listen to classical music but for Miranda's sake he had taken time and listened to it regularly, well at least when Miranda was around and wanted to share.

"Hey."

Miranda twitched and almost jumped out of the couch when he spoke, Shepard could not help to smirk.

Miranda had a hand on her chest to calm herself as she straightened herself in the couch. "John! You scared me." Miranda exclaimed.

"Sorry."

She crossed her legs and rested her hands on her knee, which Shepard thought was yet another sexy pose.

"No problems escorting T'Loak?"

"No." Shepard moved to the couch and sat down next to her. "I see you are drinking wine, and that there's two glasses."

"Yes, you want to share a glass with me?"

"Of course." Shepard put an arm around her back and pulled Miranda closer.

Miranda poured wine into the other glass and handed it to Shepard and they each took a sip of wine before Miranda rested her head on his shoulder.

"I never got time to ask you how the visit to the hospital went."

"Right." Shepard answered. "Well, it looked like we were able to put aside our differences. At least for a while it looked good, but then Ashley asked the question I dreaded the most. _'What about us._"

"Oh?" Miranda asked, not sure who he meant. If it was them, or he and Williams.

"Her and me, I mean. So I explained that it was over, not all details surrounding it though because she told me she had family on Earth and I didn't want to be too hard on her."

Miranda lifted her head from his shoulder and looked at him. "That can't be easy to have on once mind."

Shepard shook his head, "No." Shepard turned to her and smirked, "I must confess, I thought you were to balk at having Aria join us."

Miranda shrugged, "Her biotics and expertise on Omega can be handy when we infiltrate Omega."

"Yeah, I think so to."

"If it is all the same to you, I will keep an eye on her. She did lie to your Admiral Anderson."

Shepard nodded, "Yeah, do that. But I think we can trust her, or at least that she won't stab us in the back. We got to save the galaxy first."

"And there's that too of course."

* * *

_**Took some creative liberty regarding Zaeed, according to Bioware's ME2 character page he has fought with the Alliance so I ended his career there in 2159.**_

_**Credit goes to reader Razor T McCutchn for the idea to have Aria join for the Omega mission.**_

**_Edit (2012-08-21): I added an additional scene at the end between Shepard and Miranda. I added additional writing to clarify that Aria left the Normandy prior to leaving the Citadel. Added a blurb about Miranda talking about Petrovsky.  
_**

_**Edited (09/30/2012): Thanks to reader "torexile" that pointed out a vast amount of grammatical errors throughout the story that are being changed. **_


	14. Insurgency

The fighting in the outskirts of London was intense. Block after block the resistance was pushed back as the Reapers threw themselves at the resistance. Slowly and steady the resistance began pulling out of the city. There were no place safe from the Reapers and their ground forces and thus a decision had been made by resistance commanders to pull out of the city and regroup in the countryside with intention to gather additional forces. The countryside was the safest areas for the time being, the Reapers were concentrating on the cities with any industrial or military infrastructure that could be used against them. Whatever was left of the British armed forces had been pushed back with high casualties.

Besides gathering additional reinforcements, the resistance primary objective was to secure a Quantum Entanglement Communicator, and that task had fallen on a group of soldiers and Alliance marines under the command of Admiral Anderson, it was a mismatch of humans that had formed an impromptu task force. They had been pushing north in commandeered vehicles, picking up scattered military personnel that wanted to join the fight against the Reapers. Anderson was wary of indoctrinated joining, the little intelligence that the Alliance had compiled over the past years gave him at least some hints to the indoctrination effect on people and he had so far seen nothing that suggested that he had indoctrinated people under his command.

The only known Quantum Entanglement Communicator that could be found in close proximity of London was located at the American Air Force Base Lakenheath north east of London. Any other QEC's in London had most likely been destroyed in the attack, Anderson didn't have high hopes of finding one intact at a military base, but being able to communicate with the outside galaxy was a priority.

The small convoy of vehicles moved by night and only used the small roads, staying away from any highways or any major populated areas and it took the force the better part of the night to reach their destination. They stopped outside one of the small towns near the base a few hours before sunrise. Lakenheath was surrounded by hills and was dotted by small villages, farms and pastures, a very picturesque view, fitting for a postcard.

Advanced scout teams had cleared the immediate area, although the towns were void of people, and no Reapers had been encountered. No one knew what had happened to the townspeople, but they had either fled or been killed. Anderson had unfolded a tourist map a recon team had found in the nearest small town on the hood of a truck and was studying it. Another small team had ventured out to recon the airbase, and he was anxiously waiting for their return.

"You got any ideas, Admiral?"

Anderson looked up and saw Coats limping up to him, the British soldier stopped and leaned on the hood of the vehicle.

"Well, there's a large forested area to the east and I think we will ferry our troops through it and then assault the base supported by our vehicles. If there's enemies present I'll think I'll have a small team create a diversion on the opposite side of the base with some C4."

Coats mused, "Drawing their attention away from the primary force."

"Yeah."

"So these things are portable?"

"Yes and no, they're kind off big and that's why we have two Kodiaks that will not only provide Close Air Support, but one of them can ferry the QEC. If we unplug the QEC and all the hardware we should be able to move it. We'll need a one hell of a power source to fire it up, so I hope one of the other resistance units can find something suitable."

The resistance had set up a base far north-west of London in abandoned coal mines, and they had quite a few operational Kodiaks and gunships and two of these Kodiaks had been detached for Anderson's operation and was on stand-by five minutes from their task force. Flying low and using the ground for cover minimized the risk of being detected by Reapers.

Coats nodded and studied the map. "There's a church over here." Coats tapped his finger a few centimeters north of the base. "Just outside the perimeter fence, I could go up the church tower and provide long-range fire support with my M29."

Anderson glanced at Coats, "Your leg has not healed enough for combat."

Since being taken in by the resistance his njury had begun to heal thanks to the medics, but he still had some pain and limped. "I'm not going to assault the base, Admiral. I'll bring a few soldiers with me for protection and another sniper; from there we will have a pretty good view of the base and can cover the assault."

Anderson nodded, "Right, grab a few then."

Coats smirked, "Just don't forget us during the exfiltration."

"Sir?" An Alliance marine walked up to the two officers.

Anderson turned to the young marine, it was one of the scouts from a recon team, "You got something for us Corporal?"

"Yes sir. The aircraft shelters and associated support buildings are either destroyed or damaged, including the control tower. But a gaggle of buildings, including what we believe is the Headquarters compound only looks damaged." The Corporal pointed at several large buildings to the north of the main runway on the map.

"Enemies?"

The Corporal shook his head, "We saw no hostiles."

Anderson looked up, "We can't take the threat for granted. We are a go; I want the unit assembled and ready to go in ten mikes."

* * *

Coats was leading a four-man team, it was he and another sniper accompanied by two rifleman, the three others were Alliance. The team had taken the scenic route through the nearby forest and the farming land and had been trekking as slowly and quiet as possible. They were about 50 meters from the road that ran along the air base and Coats stopped the team and moved up alone to recon the immediate area. The road was a meter or so above the forest and Coats crawled through a dike to get up next to the road.

He saw the perimeter-fence that surrounded the air base about 200 meters in front of him, as well as bombed out buildings and hardened aircraft bunkers. Coats peered through his rifle scope and surveyed the base but he didn't see any hostiles. He saw the old church half way between the intersection leading to the base. Coats turned around and hunched down as he went back to the team.

Coats explained the situation and issued his orders when they gathered around him. "We have to tread lightly and crawl through the dike and then leapfrog across the road one at a time as the rest of us provide cover. I saw no hostiles but they're sure to be there."

The three others, which he barely knew, nodded.

"We must hurry, I can't stress that enough, the other teams are waiting for us to get in position. And we can't get discovered by the enemy, if we are discovered do this op is FUBAR."

The team began their journey through the forest, the cover of darkness was slowly vanishing and it was imperative that they got in position before daylight to minimize detection. Eventually they reached the dike and the road. Coats surveyed the area quickly once again from the dike and ran across the road as fast as he could with his injured leg. He took cover on the other side, and as there was no dike there he found the next best thing and that was behind some shrubs. Coats shifted position and reconnoitered the area ahead and saw no contacts.

Coats sent an 'all clear' over the radio and the next man dashed across the road. This was repeated twice more as the team gathered at the Major. They used the shrubs as cover as they advanced towards the church. Once there they took cover behind a stone-wall next to the path that led to the entrance. Once again Coats surveyed the air base through his scope, he saw the perimeter fence about a hundred meters in front of them, but saw nothing but burned out vehicles and damaged buildings.

He ordered one of the marines to try the door at the church entrance. The marine vaulted over the wall and quickly ran to the door. It was an old door with a handle which he slowly pressed downwards and could feel the door open. He motioned for the team to stack up at the door. The marine opened the door and the team rushed in and quickly cleared the vestibule as well as the congregation hall, they found no hostiles or even civilians, it was eerie empty. The team found a flight of stairs and proceeded up through the floors when they finally emerged in the small church tower overlooking the air base. Coats walked up to the window facing the air base and opened the window and glanced at the airbase while the other sniper pulled up a table to the window and the other two marines set up position to guard the congregation hall on the ground floor.

Coats radioed Anderson, "We're in position."

"_Copy that. We'll start the party in 60 seconds."_

"Solid copy."

Coats and his fellow sniper each pulled up a chair to the table and readied their rifles. Through their scopes they had a good view of the demolished air base but they saw no Reaper creatures.

"They'll come out of hiding when the C4 goes off Private, so be ready to engage targets."

"Roger that sir."

The seconds ticked by and a muffled explosion was heard on the opposite side of the base. Soon gunfire from the demolition team was heard as well as they encountered creatures on their end.

_"We're rolling in."_ Anderson reported in Coats' earpiece.

Through his scope, Coats saw for the first time several creatures emerging from the target-buildings. He put his crosshairs on the head of a Cannibal and pulled the trigger and a 3-round burst of bullets blew the head clean off.

"Target down." Coats calmly said as he shifted to another target and shot another 3-round burst at the creature, a husk. On his right the Private was firing his M-92 Mantis and reloading it.

* * *

Anderson led the vehicle assault with several four-wheeled trucks armoed with mounted M76 machine guns. They breached the front gates on the opposite side of the base from the church and raced across the runway heading for the headquarters area were the operations building was believed to be. The five vehicles lined up in trail formation and two Kodiak shuttles armed with a pair of front-mounted mass-accelerator cannons shadowed the vehicles in a low altitude pattern above them in order to provide Close Air Support.

Anderson sat in the front-passenger seat in the lead vehicle as they bounced around on the damaged runway.

Coat's voice was heard over the radio, _"Be advised, at the target-buildings on your eleven o'clock we got multiple hostiles about 600 meters from your position. We're engaging."_

Anderson radioed an order, "All vehicles, maintain speed, maintain dispersion."

"Contact left, 600 meters." The M-76 gunner on Anderson's truck informed over the radio-net as he began to open fire at the creatures in short and controlled bursts, soon the other gunners in the trailing vehicles opened fire at the same direction.

The trailing Kodiak above Anderson radioed, _"Wildman, this is Star 4-1 and 4-2, we're requesting fire permission."_

"Roger that Star 4-1, you are cleared hot." Anderson replied in his mouthpiece.

The low-flying Kodiaks opened fire with their cannons at the creatures on the far side of the base. Anderson could not what was happening, it was too far away, but when the pilots called out _'good effect on target'_ Anderson didn't need to see to know that the pilots in the shuttles did their job.

The convoy raced across the open runway, the damage to the air base was much more apparent now; Anderson could smell the stench of charred bodies and death. The impressive volley of firepower that was thrown at the creatures kept them covered behind buildings and walls. The convoy eventually began slowing down at the compound were the operations building was believed to be, the machine gunners was busy shooting at everything they saw.

The vehicles stopped at the center of compound and troops dismounted to provide security near the entrance at the four-story headquarters building. Anderson disembarked from his vehicle with five other marines and soldiers, keeping a low profile as not to be shot by the enemies. Two of the trucks had detached from the main force and headed for a building on the far side of the compound, their mission was to loot the base's armory while the rest of the convoy set up a defensive ring protecting the assault force from the onslaught of the creatures that were still engaging the humans. The two Kodiak shuttles were hovering above the convoy, attacking targets with their cannons.

Anderson and his squad burst through the main entrance door and swept the reception area. Anderson found a building plan and began to study it while the squad covered all possible directions. The building had two subfloors and the first subfloor floor was the base operations area and the second floor housed the base's communication suite and possibly the QEC. Anderson found a flight of stairs that led to the sub-levels of the building and the team hurried down the stairs. It seemed like the electricity had been knocked out so they had to carry the equipment up the stairs to the vehicles instead of using the elevator.

When the team reached passageway to the operations room they were spotted by lingering Reaper creatures that opened fire at them. The door to the operations room was open and Anderson slid behind cover of a small cubicle workstation. The man behind was not as lucky as his armor and body was riddled with rounds. The remaining four marines jumped to cover at another cubicle workstation near the stairs. One of the marines cried out in pain as he slid behind a table.

"Status?" Anderson called out.

The marine winced in pain as he crawled up from the floor, "I took a round to the chest sir, I think I'll be all right, it hurts as hell."

The room was full of similar looking cubicle workstations and large monitors on the walls. The creatures, Cannibals, were hidden behind workstations and darted from cover to cover as they tried to flank Anderson and his team.

Anderson peered from cover and saw three Cannibals circling around his right. He pulled out a grenade from one of his pouches and tossed it at the Cannibals. The explosion destroyed several cubicle walls and ripped apart one Cannibals. Anderson leaned out from cover with his M8 and opened fire at a Cannibal that tried to find a new wall to hide behind. The Cannibal was killed by Anderson's burst and fell to the ground. The fourth darted from cover to cover and tried to flee from Anderson as he fired a concussion grenade that knocked down the creature, but did not kill it. The cannibal struggled to its feet as Anderson fired another burst of round that hit its head and the creature slumped down on the floor.

The four marines behind cover on his right engaged several Cannibals on their far left, one marine called out a kill, but there were still several unknown Cannibals behind the cubicles that exchanged fired with the marines. Anderson leapt from cover and circled around several cubicles with intention to flank the Cannibals. He hugged the walls and kept a low profile as he neared the Cannibals in front of them.

He noticed movement in his peripheral view and he turned to his right as a Husk leapt from behind a cubicle and jumped through the air and knocked Anderson down. Anderson dropped his rifle when the Husk pushed him down and they began to struggle as the Husk was trying to rip apart Anderson's armor.

Although Anderson was a fairly big man, the Husk had the advantage and snarled as it tried to kill him. Anderson tried to push away the Husk but to no avail, so he moved his right arm away from the Husk and tried to fend away with only his left as he reached for his M-3 pistol and shot several rounds into the Husk's abdomen. The Husk twitched from the rounds that was fired into it and snarled in pain. Anderson pushed away the Husk and got up on his feet and killed it with several more rounds. He holstered his pistol and reached for his assault rifle on the ground.

Anderson ran towards the Cannibals that were still locked in a firefight with his squad and when he crossed the corner of a workstation he came up on their left side and opened fire at the three Cannibals that were hiding behind the cubicle. He killed the closest with several rounds to its head; he then fired a concussion grenade into one of the other that was knocked to the ground. The last one still standing turned around and fired its arm cannon at Anderson that was absorbed by his shields. Stumbling from the high velocity impacts, Anderson darted behind cover of a workstation so his shields could restart.

The Cannibal growled and was advancing on Anderson's position when he was shot from behind by the marines who had emerged from their cover. They had taken advantage of the lull in the firefight and moved up to kill the creatures. The Cannibal that had been knocked down by Anderson's concussive shot stumbled to its feet but was also shot and killed by the four marines.

Anderson rose to his feet and reloaded his rifle.

"Are you alright sir? That was one hell of an assault you did." One of the marines asked.

"I'm alright, check the casualty." Anderson pointed on their fallen comrade on the stair case.

One of the marines ran over and hunched down next to the body to see if he was still alive. Anderson and the rest of the marines approached but he turned to them and shook his head. He retrieved the fallen marine's dog tags.

Anderson sighed, "All right, let's head down stairs and see if that QEC is here."

The team rushed down the stairs to the communications level. They entered through the door and quickly cleared the room, there were no hostiles present.

Anderson scanned the room full of computers, servers and other assorted hardware. On the far side of the room he saw a door with the words _'Quantum Entanglement Communicator'_ above it. He rushed to the door with the marines in tow and opened it. Inside the smaller room they found the QEC and the assorted hardware.

Anderson turned to one of his marines who was a combat engineer, "Check it."

"Roger sir." The marine ran up to the computer and began scanning the hardware with his omni-tool.

Anderson radioed the vehicle force outside, "Gunnery Chief, we found the QEC. Stand by."

In Anderson's earpiece he heard his Gunnery Chief's voice, _"Roger that sir. We're hitting them with everything we got but they keep throwing themselves at us."_

"Roger, hold out. We will not be long." Anderson turned to his engineer. "So? What do you got?"

"With the electricity down I can't get proper readings, but it seems to be shorted out." The engineer turned to Anderson and shut down his omni-tool.

"Well, it's better than nothing. Unplug it and everything needed to operate it."

The combat engineer pulled out a power drill from his back pack and hunched down next to the communicator and went to work. Two other marines began to unplug computers and other hardware. Anderson and the remaining marine took up position outside the room to guard it.

* * *

Outside the headquarters, the vehicle force and the two shuttles with the dismounted troops were fighting the Reaper creatures and holding them off from advancing on their position. The two vehicles and the soldiers that had raided the base's armory had returned to the rest of the convoy.

The two snipers in the church were providing long range fire support, shooting at everything that entered their sights. But they were slowly running out of ammo and would be unable to sustain the amount of fire they had been directed at the enemy.

Coats fired of another 3-round burst at a husk. The rifle was overheated and began venting. Coats quickly reloaded the rifle.

Coats had heard earlier Anderson's transmission and they had found what they were looking for. Hopefully they could extract the QEC and leave soon.

* * *

The marines had worked hard for the last minutes. The QEC holographic projection device and several computer terminals had been unplugged. Now came the hard part of carrying the equipment up two stories to the exit.

Anderson radioed the vehicles, "Chief, I need some men to help us carry this equipment."

A few moments later came a response in his earpiece; Anderson could hear heavy firing and orders being shouted in the background. The Gunnery Chief said, _"Copy that sir, I'm sending a squad."_

A few minutes later a six man squad compromised of marines and British soldiers emerged from the passageway and made their way to Anderson.

"We need a few hands to carry these while the rest of us escort them out." Anderson explained.

A couple of marines and soldiers picked up the hardware from the floor, the holographic projection device were so heavy that two people had to carry it. The squad moved as fast as they could to the stairs with the heavy equipment.

* * *

On the surface the heavy fighting continued, the humans had a few casualties but continued to fight the creatures. The Gunnery Chief who led the men in their fighting was getting anxious. He thought they had been bogged down far too long and feared that the Reapers could be massing reinforcements somwhere for an counter attack.

Anderson and his team exited from the main entrance after several minutes of hauling the equipment up the stairs. Anderson pressed a button on his omni-tool so he could talk to the hovering shuttles.

"Star 4-1, I need extraction for the package."

"_Copy we'll set her do-"_

The transmission was cut short when a red-tinted projectile ripped through the shuttle from behind which detonated the drive core. Debris of the shuttle rained down on the open ground in front of the vehicles. The dismounted troops watched terrified as the shuttle fell to the ground, some fought the urge to stand still and watch the shuttle hit the ground in a bright fireball.

The other shuttle spun around and opened fire to the north but it too was destroyed by another projectile. The shuttle lost control and crashed into a small building. Dread began to set in on the human that were still shooting at the creatures.

Anderson turned around and ran around the corner of the headquarters building, he was dumbstruck as he saw the hulking frame of a Reaper ship a few kilometers away at the town of Lakenheath. It was one of the 'small' ones. A menacing mechanical noise was emitted from the Reaper.

_Fuck!_ Anderson turned around and began barking out orders, "Get the equipment onto a flatbed truck and let's evac now!"

The troops carrying the equipment ran over to a truck and began to pack it onto the flatbed. Other troops began to embark on the vehicles while the machine gunners continued to shoot at the creatures.

Anderson rushed over to his truck and opened the door as he radioed Coats, "Major! We have a Reaper coming towards us from the town, get to extraction point Charlie. We will pick you up."

* * *

"Roger that!"

Through his scope Coats had seen both shuttles go down and could see the assault force mounting their vehicles to leave. He and the other sniper picked up their rifles and holstered them.

"We're leaving to extraction point Charlie!" Coats shouted to the other soldiers as he readied his assault rifle and the two of them ran down the stairs to the congregation hall. Coats came down the stairs and the two marines were already on their way to open the door.

The door flung open with a tremendous force and knocked down one of the marines; four Cannibals growled and began shooting into the church. Coats and the sniper backed into the stair case they came from as they hoped the wall could shield them from the bullets being shot at them.

The knocked down marine on the ground was quickly killed when a Cannibal shot him in the head ad he tried to crawl up. His surviving comrade ran for cover behind the reception desk as the Cannibals shot at him. The bullets missed him by a few centimeters.

Coats pulled out a flashbang from one of his pouches; throwing out a frag grenade in these tight confinements with friendlies close by was not an option.

"Flashbang out! Coats cried out and tossed it around the corner of the stair well, the flashbang detonated in the vestibule.

Coats heard the unmistakable sound of M8 gunfire when he was about to round the corner; the marine behind the reception desk had rose from cover and opened fire at one of the Cannibals that was dazed and disoriented by the flashbang. The cannibal fell to the ground and Coats leveled his assault rifle and shot in controlled bursts at another Cannibal, the sniper behind him was shooting with his submachine gun.

The three humans quickly shot the Cannibals which fell to the ground roaring in pain. Coats quickly walked over to the fallen marine and hunched down to retrieve the dog tags and to see if he was alive; but he wasn't. The marines gathered around Coats and they exited the church to the courtyard. No hostiles were seen.

"Let's get to the forest quickly before more of these things or that big Reaper comes over here." Coats ordered and they began to run the length of the road that led to the main road near the forest. The extraction point was on the opposite side of the forest and they had to hurry to reach it so the vehicle force could extract them, they would not wait for the sniper team very long with a Reaper ship nearby.

Coats was panting as he talked into his mouthpiece as they ran, "Sir, we're leaving the Crows Nest for extraction point Charlie. How copy?" He held his assault rifle close to his chest.

"_Copy Major, we're there shortly. ETA?"_

"Five minutes of running sir."

"_Hurry."_ Anderson cut the transmission.

The team eventually reached the intersection and ran across the road. Coats turned and saw the Reaper advancing on the air base; luckily it did not see them. He turned around again and followed the marines into the dense forest.

They ran through the forest as quickly as they could, the two marines was much lighter in the feat then Coats was as he had to endure the pain in the lag. His boot caught an overturn trunk of a tree and he fell to the ground and his leg hit the ground. He gasped in pain but had enough self awareness no to scream out in pain as that couold alert the enemy of their position. He pushed himself up from the ground and began limping as fast as possible through the forest ignoring the pain in his leg.

A few minutes later the marines ahead of Coats emerged through the forest on the other side. They were right on time as the vehicle convoy drove up next to them. Coats stepped out of the forest and Anderson motioned with his hand for them to mount the vehicles.

When all were accounted for the convoy drove away as quick as possible, heading back to friendly lines.

Despite the losses they had acquired what they were looking for, Anderson hoped that the QEC was still operational.

* * *

_**A personal goal here was to write an entire chapter of at least 4k words that had nothing to do with Shepard and all the others. And the chapter landed on almost 5k words.  
**_

_**Creative liberties were**** taken regarding the QEC, if it's mobile or not I have no idea, but I made them such. Considering that you talk to Anderson eventually over QEC I made up this mission when they liberate one. RAF Lakenheath is the home of the USAF 48th Fighter Wing.**_

_**Vehicle assault inspired from the first episode of Generation Kill.**_

_**Call sign from Black Hawk Down.**_

**_Thanks for past and upcoming reviews._  
**

**__****_Edited (2012-10-08): Fixed a lot of spelling errors._**


	15. Operation Omega: Part 1

The Normandy dropped out of the Skepsis System-relay after a three day journey and soared through space and headed to the rendezvous point to meet up with the mercenary fleet.

Shepard walked through the aisle up to the bridge, "What do we got Joker?" Shepard stopped behind the pilot.

"Good timing Commander. We're being hailed by Aria T'Loak." Joker replied from the seat and was looking at the LADAR monitor. "I got two frigates, one cruiser and a dreadnought on the scope. Old, repurposed stuff."

"Patch her through."

Joker pressed a holographic button on his interface and Aria's voice was heard through the speakers, _"You are on time Shepard."_

"You want us to dock with your ship?"

"_Yes, I'm coming aboard."_

"We'll begin the docking procedure."

Joker tagged the ship on the monitor that they were to dock with and slowed down the Normandy, firing its thrusters. Joker aligned the Normandy with the other ship and slid up next it as the mercenary ship extended the docking arm. Joker held his cool and kept the Normandy steady and a few seconds later the docking arm connected with the Normandy.

Joker reported triumphantly, "Locks engaged!"

Shepard praised, "Good show Joker."

Joker shrugged, "That's why I'm here."

"_One person entering, Commander." _EDI reported. _"Pressurizing and starting decontamination."_

"Okay EDI, thanks."

Shepard walked out the cockpit and stopped outside the airlock. A few moments later the door opened and Aria, wearing a Terminus Assault Armor with the helmet in her hand and weapons holstered, stepped through.

"Welcome back." Shepard greeted.

Aria nodded, "Thanks Shepard."

"Weapons are not allowed on board so if you could leave them at the armory it would be appreciated." Shepard informed.

Aria shrugged, "It's your ship. Which way?"

Shepard gestured with his hand for her to follow him and they walked through the aisle. Shepard was surprised by her willingness to obey but said nothing.

"Just take the elevator down to the cargo bay and you will find the armory just outside."

"Are we ready to leave for Omega?" Aria asked impatiently.

"Yeah. I take it your fleet is briefed on everything."

"They are." The two neared the Galaxy Map.

"Okay, we'll leave now." Shepard called out to the intercom, "Joker?"

"_Yes Commander?" _

"Let's head to Omega. Send confirmation to the mercenary fleet."

"_Roger that Commander. ETA four hours and five minutes."_

Shepard and Aria had walked past the Galaxy Map and stopped at the elevator.

"Don't forget the stealth system."

Joker sighed and said sarcastically, _"Yeah, it's not like I'm new at this. Joker out."_

Sheppard pressed the elevator button and the doors opened.

"You'll not have access to all the areas of the ship, but the cargo bay and the crew deck is open with the exception of a few doors."

Aria smirked, "You don't trust me Shepard?"

Shepard shrugged, "I don't see a reason for you to be in engineering or the CIC. We'll brief and disembark from the cargo bay."

"Relax Shepard." Aria chided as she walked into the elevator. "The way I see it; if you don't defeat the Reapers, we're all dead. It's in my interest to help you."

Shepard held the door open with his arm. "Right. I'll be in my quarters if you want me, call for EDI and she'll contact me."

"Who's Edie"'

"_I am."_ EDI's voice was heard in the elevator. _"EDI stands for Enhanced Defense Intelligence. "_

"An AI." Shepard said casually.

For the first time since ever meeting Aria, Shepard could tell she was genuinely surprised.

"You have an AI onboard?" She exclaimed.

Shepard smirked, "Yeah. Nothing to worry about."

Aria shook her head, "I'll guess I have to take your word for it Shepard. Until next time."

"Aria." Shepard said and removed his hand from the door and it slid close and the elevator began its descent.

* * *

Shepard entered his quarters and walked down the stairs and found Miranda standing near the bed in her robe. She had just taken a shower as her black hair was still damp and she was about to get dressed. He stopped at the end of the stairs.

A few moments later, Miranda turned to Shepard and smirked as she saw him gawking, "You are staring John."

"It's hard not to." Shepard responded with a sly smile and walked over and slid an arm around her waist and pulled her close and kissed her. She did not put up any resistance and reciprocated the kiss and rested her arms around his shoulders. Shepard let the other arm wander her body and slid it under the robe and caressed her naked hip.

Shepard's seductive actions made her moan in response. She moved one of her own hands to his and interlaced their fingers. She then moved away his hand from her hip and broke the kiss and breathed heavily.

"Not now." She regrettably said. It took every fiber in her body to break away. She didn't want to but they had a mission soon and it was not the time regardless how much she wanted it after his actions.

Shepard smirked, "But you are a provocative distraction." Their hands parted and once again Shepard put his arms around her waist and she rested hers on his shoulders.

"Hmm, maybe I shouldn't wear the suite anymore and instead wear something else." Miranda smirked and pretended to be deep in thought.

"Please keep it."

Miranda grinned at Shepard, "I do think _Commander _that it would be for the best that I don't wear it actually."

"I don't agree at all. It's good for my morale if you wear it." Shepard smirked.

Miranda shook her head and grinned, "You get too excited in my presence."

"Is that a bad thing?"

Miranda smirked, "Not always, but we have to prepare."

Shepard insisted, "But a few kisses won't hurt."

Miranda rolled her eyes and sighed theatrically, "Oh well, I guess a can make out with you for a while."

"You make it sound like a chore."

Miranda teased, "Oh, it is."

Shepard pushed her gently down the bed and leaned in and kissed her.

* * *

He never shunned from getting his hands dirty. Not once. Being part of Cerberus, and before that Alliance Special Operations, had given him the tools necessary to carry out the job, and that he did. With the looming Reaper threat General Oleg Petrovsky knew that defeating them would have to be done by any means necessary. Including violently taking control over Omega and keeping its inhabitants in check so Cerberus operations past the Omega 4 relay could continue without interference.

But Adjutants? When he had realized that the Illusive Man had created these Husk-like creatures with the sole purpose to unleash them on Omega, part of him was sickened to the core. That was too much, and he had to kill several civilians that had been infected by them. But he did take gratification that he killed Raymond Ashe when he had become infected. Cerberus consisted of to many of the likes of Ashe. Petrovsky did what was necessary to accomplish a mission, but sacrificing his own men and civilians was not part of the necessity. Ashe could easily sacrifice anyone to accomplish the mission.

_Bastard!_

But Petrovsky got anything he wanted to carry out his operations. Any scientists and whatever else they needed to study Reaper and Collector technologies he was given, a lenience that he had never experienced before during his time with the Alliance. After Commander Shepard had destroyed the Collector Base they had moved in weeks afterwards and had actually been able to find important items to research. Although Petrovsky could sense something was amiss when the Illusive Man had handed him his assignment to prepare to venture beyond the Omega 4 Relay and subsequent annexation of Omega station.

But whenever Petrovsky asked for details about Shepard's mission, or if they even could use Miranda Lawson's brilliant mind in studying Reaper technology, the Illusive Man had clamped down and ordered Petrovsky to stop asking questions and carry out the mission with the resources given. That reaction had always struck Petrovsky as curious considering that having John Shepard working for them was no secret and that Miranda Lawson had evidently carried out her assignment with considerable professionalism should warrant her participation on this part of the mission. But everything surrounding the outcome of the Lazarus cell had been shrouded in mystery. Rumors persisted that Shepard had taken he new Normandy, and deserted with the surviving crew and team. This was further solidified when he had received reports that Shepard had turned himself over to the Alliance six months earlier. But that a loyal Cerberus Operative such as Miranda Lawson had left Cerberus could not be true. Right?

So could Lawson have known something that Petrovsky didn't? Petrovsky had had second doubts about Cerberus for the past months now. He had come to the conclusion that the Illusive Man was a power hungry and sick man that used any advantage for his own needs and the General had doubts that those needs would help humanity. That notion had presented itself pretty quickly after they had established a foothold beyond the Omega 4 Relay and begun ferrying Collector and Reaper technology to Cronos Station. More and more of his men had been rotated of the station to undergo _'combat applicable enhancements'_, and returned weeks later...changed. The fucking Illusive Man had turned them into husks that mealy obeyed orders. They were only a shell of their former selves. No personalities, no past memories. Nothing. He was amazed that they still had names. Only he, the scientists, the support staff and his small cadre of officers had been spared. Petrovsky wondered why, but he could guess that if any of them disobeyed any direct order from the Illusive Man, the troops would turn their weapons on him and someone like Kai Leng would be flown in to take control of the situation.

Petrovsky sighed and rose from his bed. When taking over Omega they had taken over Afterlife and used it to direct operations and the defense of Omega. Omega Control had not suited their needs and had been dismantled. Instead they had repurposed Afterlife, installing computers, server farms and any other equipment they needed. And Petrovsky had taken over Aria T'Loak's office and used it as his own quarters.

Petrovksy quickly showered and shaved before he put on his uniform. A few months earlier he had worn this with pride, Cerberus was the only organization doing what as needed to protect humanity, but now...now he wasn't sure. But the Illusive Man did have a plan to fight the Reapers; Petrovksy was just not sure he believ it anymore. Using Reaper technology against their enemy could prove to be very dangerous, and transforming their soldiers to Husks did not sit well with Petrovsky. What else was the Illusive Man up to?

Petrovsky grabbed some breakfast in the cafeteria, a VIP lounge that had been repurposed. And with a cup of coffee he ventured down the Operations Hall, which was the former large circular dance hall filled with computers, holographic displays and radars. With the fleet patrolling outside, Omega was a very heavily defended position. Not that nothing had happened in the months following their invasion. But you could not get to complacent.

Petrovsky walked over to one of his senior duty officers that was sitting in front of a computer alongside the wall. "What's for today, Hudson?"

The man turned to the General and rose from the chair and grabbed a datapad off the table and read from it. "Well, we have a new shipment coming from Avernus in about two hours that will head out to one of our research stations, they're finalizing the prep, and we expect to rotate some personnel from Avernus."

Petrovsky nodded, "Very well. As you were."

The duty officer saluted and sat down at the computer.

The General took a sip from the coffee and sighed inwardly, _well, another boring day in hell._

* * *

Shepard entered the bridge. Miranda had left for the cargo bay to start the preparation for the mission. And the team, plus their _'specialist'_, had been alerted to head to the cargo bay. Joker was busy helming the Normandy.

"We're 30 seconds from exiting the relay." Joker reported.

"Good. IES stealth systems engaged?"

"Uh…yeah. I just engaged it. You think I haven't done covert infiltrations before." Joker said sarcastically.

"Just making sure, Joker." Shepard murmured, "Let's hope this works; otherwise we'll have to turn around."

"Please, have some faith Commander." Joker replied from behind the seat.

The Normandy dropped out of FTL and soared away from the relay.

"We're in." Joker reported. "No contacts around the relay. We haven't been detected." Joker was watching one of the holographic monitors displaying the LADAR.

"Good. Let's recon."

"Roger that Commander. Starting passive scanning. Standby." Joker moved his hand over the interface and activated Normandy's scanning equipment.

Moments later EDI reported, _"Shepard, I see six ships, four frigates and two cruisers patrolling Omega."_

"Alright, send the STIREP to the mercenary fleet. Notify me when they respond."

"_Understood Shepard."_ EDI responded.

"I'm heading down to the cargo bay Joker, anything happens, contact me."

"You got it Commander. I'll position us around the planet of Bindur at the mean time."

* * *

Shepard exited the elevator and stood in the armory. The team was assembled and was prepping for the mission, readying their weapons and strapping on armor, Lieutenant Cortez was also in attendance, leaning on a workstation behind the assault team. Shepard already had his N7 armor on and walked over to his locker and collected his weapons; he holstered his M96 and M5 to his armor, Shepard decided to fight light today, and walked back to the team.

"Alright people, listen up." Shepard stopped in the middle of the armory and the team turned their attention to their Commander. "We have detected 6 ships, 4 frigates and two cruisers, and EDI have sent the report to the mercenary fleet. On my way down here I received confirmation from EDI that the merc fleet is on their way. ETA 4 hours."

"That's substantial firepower Cerberus got." Garrus observed who was on Shepard's right.

"Yeah, but we have an ace up our sleeve; the Normandy. "Shepard turned to Aria who was leaning on a computer workstation. "Best route into Afterlife? Undetected of course."

Aria straightened herself from the workstation and activated her omni-tool and the team turned their attention to a holographic map of Omega.

"We can probably not walk into the front door, so we have to infiltrate Omega through the sewers that run beneath." Aria explained and highlighted the maze of sewers running under the night club. "From the sewers we can reach the club's waste disposal room through a secret passage. From there we can access the entire club. With my access codes and help of course." Aria grinned.

There was a low murmuring from a few members of Shepard's team.

"Disgusting." Liara complained standing next to Garrus.

Garrus shrugged, "We wear hard-sealed armors, so we should be alright."

Miranda was standing next to the armor bench observing Aria. "We'll need extensive contamination after that little excursion." Miranda pointed out. She had never liked Omega and after last year's operations there, she had hoped never to return.

"And they have not found this passage I presume?" Shepard interjected.

"Hopefully they haven't, the entrance is behind a wall at the waste disposal plant, and if we're lucky they have found the entrance which is used as a ruse instead, and have therefore not spent time finding the actual entrance."

"Okay." Shepard answered eyeing the holographic map emerging from Aria's omni-tool. "I got to ask, how do you know that Cerberus uses Afterlife as command center."

Aria sighed, "When I left Omega, Patriarch was still fighting Cerberus. And he continued to do so for about two weeks after I left." She paused and spoke glum, she respected the former adversary and was sad about the krogan's apparent death, "After that he stopped reporting in."

"I'm sorry to hear."

Aria nodded. "And he sent some information my way which pointed to that Cerberus used Afterlife. Plus they had established themselves inside before I was exiled."

Shepard continued his briefing, "The Cerberus fleet is stationed outside the asteroid fleet around Omega." Shepard turned to Cortez who was leaning on a workstation, "Go in fast and quiet Lieutenant."

"Right Shepard." Cortez answered.

Shepard continued, "No matter were we infiltrate we'll probably draw the attention of Cerberus. We can fly in stealthy but most shuttle access points will likely be controlled by Cerberus, so there's were of course EDI comes in, she'll do her best to hack and disrupt, giving us a few moments of advantage."

Shepard eyed the group of heavily armed people around him in the armory."Al right people, I don't want us to be bogged down by enemy fire considering they're battalion strength on the station. Fire and movement is key. I want a few of us to carry missile launchers ijust in case we meet something big."

"Speed an' violence, mawer like it." Zaeed growled from Shepard's right, leaning casually on a crate.

Shepard nodded, "Yeah, the ROE is kill any Cerberus people that are opposing us; I have not much love lost for them. Hopefully, with martial law in place, we won't bump into civilians."

The assembled team nodded in agreement.

"Let's mount up." Shepard ordered.

* * *

Shepard and his team plus Aria sat in the confined passenger compartment in the Kodiak shuttle. They had left the Normandy that had positioned itself near Bindur. Omega was positioned about halfway to the sun from Bindur, so the Kodiak shuttle had to traverse about 3 astronomical units to reach the Omega station, approximately 446 454 000 kilometers. It would take them about ten minutes at the current speed.

Zaeed was sitting next to him and Shepard turned to the mercenary who was inspecting his old battered rifle, "If you don't mind me asking, what happened between you and Cerberus?"

Zaeed turned his attention to Shepard and snorted, "They wan'ed me fer a mission they said. So we arranged a meeting. But i' all turned in'er a cluster fuck."

"Oh, what happened?"

"We were in a bar in Thun - on Zorya - an' the bloody Cerberus twats turned their weapons on me. Had ter shoot me way out. Messy."

Miranda, who sat in front of them, raised an eyebrow, "Why would they do that if they wanted you for a job?"

Zaeed shook his head, "No idea missy."

Miranda was about to frown at Zaeed for calling her _'missy' _but Shepard almost unnoticeably shook his head and Miranda refrained from frowning at Zaeed.

Shepard speculated, "Well, their troops are Husk-like, maybe Cerberus is looking for candidates for their indoctrinated forces."

Zaeed had spent the last days reading all the intelligence that the Alliance had on Reapers and Cerberus, and with the modified troops Cerberus wielded, that theory was plausible. "That might be right." Zaeed said. "Bastards." Being turned into some Husk-like thing was not high on his agenda. But killing Cerberus troops was very high on his agenda.

A sudden but familiar thump was felt as the shuttle decelerated from FTL

"Two minutes from drop point." Cortez reported from the cockpit. The two divider doors to the cockpit was locked and sealed behind Cortez.

The team were all wearing combat armors, even Liara as well. It was a contrast to her usual blue and white jumpsuit she usually had, although it was the same color. She relied on her biotic shields rather than combat armor. Miranda was wearing a Rosenkov Materials black combat armor that accentuated her bodily curves as her suite did, although the armor was much more bulky.

_Now comes the moment of truth_, Shepard thought as the shuttle turned to the right.

* * *

_********__****__Edited (2012-10-08): Various spelling errors fixed. Also removed or clarified some entries._

_**It's been a while since I updated so here's Part 1 of the Omega Mission. At first I intended it to be one single chapter including the assault but I divided them instead, the assault chapter itself will be much longer then Part 1. I'm writing Part 2 and I have most of it figured out, it's just a matter of writing it. I think it will be uploaded in a week or two depending on time.  
**_

**_In Chapter 12 – A New Assignment, I Removed when Miranda asks Zaeed what Cerberus did to him (it was instead addressed in this chapter). It's never revealed in the game what prompted the rift between Zaeed and Cerberus (right?) so I made up what happened._**

**_In Chapter 13 – Aria's Story, _****_I added an new scene at the end between Shepard and Miranda. I added additional writing to clarify that Aria left the Normandy prior to leaving the Citadel. Added a blurb about Miranda talking about Petrovsky._**  


**_Creative liberties regarding the character of Oleg Petrovsky.  
_**

**_Extreme creative liberties regarding the distance between planets._**

**_Hope you enjoy this little chapter._**

**_Thanks to all that reads this story, even those that are silent readers!_**


	16. Operation Omega: Part 2

Cortez flew the shuttle expertly through the asteroid field surrounding Omega, keeping his distance from any of the Cerberus ships as well as keeping an eye on the FOD-radar that tracked the asteroids. Cortez cleared the asteroid field and slowed down as he closed the distance to the giant space station in the hollowed out asteroid.

Shepard's voice was heard in the cockpit, _"You got a good landing spot Lieutenant?"_

Cortez swiped his hand over the holographic interface.

"Well, there's a shuttle docking bay here at the spaceport." Cortez tapped the monitor and sent the image to one of the consoles in the passenger compartment. "If EDI can do her magic and open the airlock for us we could land there."

The image was a topographical depiction that showed the Gozu district, a residential area of the lower parts in Omega directly under the district were Afterlife was located.

There was silence as Cortez figured Shepard was examining the topographical depiction.

"It'll get you close to the sewage treatment plan as it's on the same district." Cortez said after a few more moments of silence.

"_Good work Lieutenant. Let's do this now." _

"You can start now EDI." Cortez transmitted to the Normandy as he steered the shuttle closer to the station.

_"Affirmative, Lieutenant."_ EDI responded. _"Initiating the electronic attack."_

* * *

After doing his regularly morning rounds in the command center, checking up on the various department heads, Petrovsky headed for the stairs that would take him up to the floor overlooking the main floor. He planned to get to his office and write the latest operations report and send it to Command.

"Sir!" A communications officer called out for Petrovsky who turned at the direction of the voice.

"What is it?" Petrovsky walked over to the officer who was sitting at his computer workstation.

"Warlock 1 reports that the shuttle docking airlocks opened at the spaceport."

Petrovsky turned mortified when he heard that, "Are we venting air into space?!"

"No sir, the mass effect barrier curtains are still functioning." The communications officer tapped a key on his keyboard and brought up a systems page for the district on his monitor. With the barrier curtain up it protected that particular district from venting air into space but shuttles could still fly through unimpeded.

"Solar wind interference?" Petrovsky asked as he glanced at the monitor.

"It's a possibility, they're reporting multiple systems failure across the board and I have static interference on the radio channel."

Petrovsky turned to a radar operator on his left, "Any unknown contacts in the system?"

"Negative, nothing's come through the relay or entered the system from the outside. The fleet hasn't reported anything either." The radar operator answered without turning away from the monitor.

The General nodded. The logical conclusion was either solar wind interference or faulty systems. But he did not discount the possibility of an attack by insurgents, even if it had been calm the past months.

"I have lost radio comms with Warlock." The communications officer reported.

Petrovsky turned to the officer, "If they haven't fixed the problem in ten minutes, send an engineering team to get everything up and running."

"Roger that sir."

"Are there any problems elsewhere?"

"Standby sir." The communications officer browsed the system for a few moments. "No, everything appears to be operational."

* * *

Aria was sitting on one of the seats in the Kodiak as they bounced around, she sat next to the door in front of the turian, his name had escaped Aria. It was only the turian and the male marine that was foreign to her. What interested her was Liara T'Soni, apparently she had been an information broker on Illium for some time after the Battle of the Citadel, and before that an archeologist. She had gone off the radar last year for some reason. Aria wondered what she had been up to since then.

_"One minute!" _Cortez reported in the intercom.

Aria watched as Shepard pulled up his helmet from the floor. The turian rose from the seat and positioned himself near the door.

"Helmets on." Shepard ordered as he put his N7 Breather helmet on and secured it. The other six secured their own helmets. Shepard rose from the seat and walked over to the shuttle door where Garrus stood.

"We'll only use the radios. Sound off." Shepard ordered through his radio. The other team members answered one by one through their mouthpieces; the radios were in working condition. Shepard grabbed his M96 from his back.

_"30 seconds." _Cortez's voice was heard in their earpieces now instead.

The shuttle flew through the mass effect barrier. The shuttle slowed down and fired its small thrusters and descended down on a landing platform in the shuttle bay. The shuttle bay was compromised of several landing platforms with a few parked shuttles as well as maintenance bays for shuttles of varying sizes. The spaceport was equipped to take even the large commuter shuttles. The shuttle bay itself was part of a spaceport with a two story space traffic control building, several support buildings and a spaceport terminal grouped together to form an island on the other side of the landing platforms.

Aria rose from the seat and brought up her Punisher sub-machine gun. She glanced at Shepard who stood with his back in front of her. She had heard the stories, and read some reports she had been able to procure from her contacts after their encounter last year. She was actually in awe of the human SPECTRE, he was a living legend. And the galaxy counted on him.

_"Sensors and cameras indicate no targets in the vicinity. But you are walking into an unknown area Commander."_ Cortez said.

"Copy." Shepard responded as the shuttle took ground and the door opened.

Shepard and Garrus jumped out the shuttle with their weapons ready. The two ran up to a low barricade that surrounded the platform and covered their front. Aria and the others jumped out and hunkered down at the barricade as well, Aria followed suite and aimed her weapon down range. It had been centuries since she had taken part in military operations as a mercenary when she was young and she felt a little rusty, but everything was slowly coming back to her know.

"Clear." Garrus reported as he continued to survey the area through the scope of his Phaeston.

Shepard said, "Clear. Cortez, dust off."

_"Roger that Commander, be safe and good luck."_

The shuttle fired it's thrusters as took of a few meters of the ground and turned to proceed out through the barrier.

Shepard did one final check of the tarmac, surveying the scattered buildings but could see no hostile activity.

"On me. Let's move out." Shepard ordered as he vaulted over the barricade.

* * *

"Sir." The communications officer who was monitoring the task list off all the programs and functions that had been shut down at the spaceport called out for Petrovsky.

Petrovsky hurried over to the officer. "Yes?"

"It seems the airlocks are closing now. Maybe they're getting everything back online?"

Petrovsky watched the list on the monitor in front of him and saw in green text; AIRLOCKS: GO.

"Probably. How about the communication?"

The officer shook his head. "Still out."

"Ok, refrain from sending out the engineering team, it seems Warlock is restoring everything on their own."

"Roger."

* * *

Aria ran in the back of the team as they advanced through the shuttle bay next to several landing platforms on the tarmac, they used the parked shuttles as cover from the control building on their right. During their flight to Omega, Aria had updated their omni-tool navigation computers so they could take the fastest route to the sewage plant and Shepard was leading them and he wanted to find a way around the spaceport. The main problem was that the parked shuttles ended after four platforms, and Shepard was apparently not to keen to traverse the tarmac to the other side of the spaceport. There could be enemy presence in any of these buildings and being out in the open could get the attention of Cerberus.

Shepard stopped at the front nose of a shuttle, the team following him stopped in their tracks. Shepard peered across the side of the shuttle and looked down the length of the spaceport. To get to the exit they had to run about 100 meters to the island of buildings that was on the other side; it was a perfect ambush point.

Shepard turned to the team behind him and explained his thoughts.

Zaeed snorted behind Aria, he was the last in line, "It's a goddamn kill zone that's fer sure."

"We'll need cover." Shepard said as his gears began turning in his head. "Garrus, Zaeed. Use your sniper rifles to cover us while we run to the other side."

Both Garrus and Zaeed complied and holstered their assault rifles and brought up their sniper rifles instead, Garrus was carrying his standard M97 and Zaeed used the M92. They shifted position and used the barricade behind the platform as cover. They vaulted over the barricade and steadied their rifles and aiming them at the buildings ahead of them, searching for targets.

When they were in position Shepard continued talking to the rest of the team, "I'll head over first to recon the area."

"I don't like this." Vega murmured next to Shepard.

"No, but we have no other options." Shepard responded. He turned and looked around the corner of the shuttle one last time. He took a deep breath and ran away from the shuttle.

"No contacts." Garrus reported from behind the barricade as Shepard ran off.

The time ticked by and Shepard had moved about halfway through the tarmac when Zaeed noticed movement in the control building. He was about to call out the suspicious activity when a long burst of fire came from the control building, shattering the windows.

The fire was concentrated on Shepard, sending concrete chips and dust from the ground flying around him. Shepard was hit by several rounds that were for the moment deflected by his shields and armor. Shepard staggered from the hits on his armor and in his earpiece he could hear Miranda's frantic voice, screaming his name. He was in a bad position with no cover in sight. But he pressed on, staying still would be fatal.

As a contrast to her voice, Garrus started a calm commentary to point everyone's eyes to the control building, "Target, right 2 o'clock high. Second floor, shattered window to the right."

A impressive volley of fire and biotics hit the second floor, prompting the offending machine gunner to take cover and ceased firing at Shepard who, despite taking several hits, scurried a cross the remaining part of the tarmac before he took cover behind a small shack in front of the larger two story control building, the gunner above in the control building could not hit Shepard from that angle.

Shepard had his back to the wall and panted heavily from running and his body ached after the kinetic shock of the bullets hitting his armor. He grunted in pain.

"You alright?" Garrus asked.

"Yeah." Shepard grunted into his mouthpiece. "The armor and shields took care of most of the bullets."

His team's fire stopped for the moment but they still had their weapons trained at the second floor.

"Cerberus?" Vega asked, leaning on a shuttle and aiming down the sights of his Valkyrie.

Garrus responded, "Likely, but I couldn't ID the gunner. Zaeed?"

"I got no visual on 'im." Zaeed answered from Garrus' right.

As the lull in fire continued, the enemy in the building appeared again, this time firing down on the platforms instead. The bullets ringed as they hit the shuttles. Shepard popped out of cover and fired up at the building, seeing the barrel of the weapon, a M76.

Aria leaned out of cover from behind the barricade and tried to draw out the enemy with a biotic pull. The machine gunner, wearing white and yellow armor was pulled out of the window, floating in mid air. The fire team behind the barricade took this opportunity to shoot the Cerberus trooper that screamed in horror while floating two stories up in the air.

Shepard watched as the biotic pull wore of and the body fell to the ground.

"Good work people. Stay in cover." Shepardordered. He doubted that the gunner was alone.

And he was right, more aimed fire erupted from the second floor as well as the first floor as more windows was shattered. Shepard hugged the wall and popped quickly out of cover firing into the first floor. But he pulled back quickly as several troopers hifted their fire at the shack.

"I need suppressive fire." Shepard ordered.

Miranda hunkered down at the nose of the shuttle and reloaded her M8 Avenger and turned to the two snipers at the barricade behind her. Being the XO she was Shepard's proxy, and with him on the front lines she had to coordinate the rest of the team.

"Zaeed, Garrus: concentrate your fire on the second floor." She turned to the two asari biotics and Vega that was taking cover next to her, "We will provide suppressive fire for Shepard."

They nodded in agreement as Zaeed and Garrus continued to fire their weapons, daring the fire that was directed at them.

The fire team directed yet another volley of gun fire and biotics at the building.

Shepard readied a grenade from one of his pouches. The Cerberus team opened fire at the platforms, giving Shepard an opportunity to use the grenade. He stepped out of cover and hurled the grenade at the shattered window frame of the first floor before he stepped back to the wall. The grenade detonated and he heard synthesized screams in pain. He popped out of cover and aimed his M96 at the windows, waiting for a target to pop out of cover to return fire. Above him, on the second floor, the fire from his team kept the Cerberus troops in check.

After what felt like an eternity he saw a Cerberus trooper propping up against the wall next to the shattered window. Shepard rapidly fired of several rounds at the bulky trooper. The rounds hit the trooper in the head and throat. The trooper fell to the ground with a gargling synthetic sound. Shepard turned back to the wall and reloaded his rifle.

Garrus enthusiastically called out, "Scoped and dropped!", when he killed a third Cerberus trooper that had been lifted off the floor thanks to one of Liara's singularities that she had perfectly positioned inside the building, lifting up the Cerberus troopers that had taken cover behind the walls.

As the enemy fire had died down, Shepard and his team lifted their fingers from the triggers and observed the building. Shepard was getting worried; the last thing he wanted was to be caught in a drawn out fire fight with Cerberus. He just hoped that EDI could block communications from the area so the Cerberus troops couldn't call for backup.

"I think we need to clear the building just to be safe." Vega commented from the platform.

Shepard agreed, "You are right. I need two shooters up here with me. The rest will have to cover our assault."

Aria volunteered, "I'll help you."

Vega responded before anyone else could, "I'll volunteer Loco. It was my idea after all."

"Right, get over here." Shepard was still aiming his rifle at the first floor.

Aria and Vega rose from the shuttles and ran across the tarmac and ended up next to Shepard.

"On me." Shepard ordered and darted from cover with his M96 at the ready. The three man team headed for the door to the control building. Shepard swiped his hand over the holographic interface and the door opened with a hiss. Suddenly they heard gunfire coming from above them, he jumped by surprise and prepared to take cover when he looked up byt saw that the gunfire was directed at the platform. The Cerberus troopers on the second floor did not know that Shepard and his team were below them. The team under Miranda's command opened fire at the second floor.

The three man team stepped through and entered the building, they were standing in the reception hall; the room was heavily damaged from Shepard's grenade. On the floor the bodies of four Cerberus troopers were lying, three of them had been ripped apart by the grenade and the fourth trooper had been killed by Shepard's gunfire. Shepard led the team through the reception and found a door with a sign that indicated that it would take them to the second floor. Shepard opened the door and the trio carefully cleared the stairwell as they walked up to the second floor and stopped at the door leading into the control room were they could hear muffled gun fire.

Shepard cursed under his breath when he saw that the holographic interface was red instead of green, indicating that the door was locked. He activated his omni-tool and moved it to the interface and let the hacking program go to work on the locking mechanism. It took about ten seconds before the interface turned green. Shepard stepped aside and took up position next to the door. Vega and Aria had done the same on the opposite side of the door. They were waiting for his go ahead.

"Alright, we breach through with flashbangs after the door opens." Shepard ordered as he pulled out a flashbang grenade from a pouch. Vega proceeded to pull out one as well.

"Miranda, stop your firing." Shepard was not in the mood of being shot at from Miranda's team when they breached the control room.

"Copy that Commander." Miranda responded and soon the fire outside ceased.

Shepard swiped his hand over the interface and the door opened. Shepard was still in cover and tossed the grenade into the room, moments later Vega tossed his into the room as well. Shepard's grenade detonated first with a loud bang and a bright flash and was soon followed by Vega's flashbang. The team entered the control room with raised weapons. Inside, the walls were riddled with workstations and monitors. In the middle there was a table with a holographic interface, resembling the war table on the Normandy. In the room there were also five Cerberus troopers that were disoriented by the flashbangs; three of them was stumbling around in the middle of the room and gasping in pain, they had been firing their weapons at the parked shuttles below them. The two others had their backs to the Cerberus fire team and had covered the doors. The two were stumbling around as well, dazed by the flashbangs.

Shepard, Vega and Aria stopped inside the large control room and opened fire at the dazed troopers, quickly dispersing them as they fell to the floor.

Shepard surveyed the room and stated, "Clear."

"Clear here." Vega responded.

The three began walking around the control room, checking the bodies to see that they were all dead. Behind the table with the holographic interface, Aria heard gasping sounds coming from the floor. She walked around with her Punisher at the ready and saw a Cerberus trooper crawling on the floor trying to get to his assault rifle he had dropped on the floor when shot. Aria stowed her weapon on her side and hunched down and turned around the trooper onto his back. He was bleeding profusely from his torso, coughing and making gargling sounds from within his helmet. He didn't have long to live.

Aria's biotics flared up and her right arm was engulfed in a biotic field as she slammed her clenched fist into the trooper's helmet, crushing it and the man's skull, sending blood and synthetic material flying through the air.

"It's clear now." Aria said darkly as she stood up from behind the table.

Shepard came up from behind Aria and observed the dead troopers. He then radioed Miranda, "We cleared the second floor, meet us outside the main entrance.

"Alright Shepard." Miranda answered.

A few short minutes later the seven of them rendezvoused outside the control building.

"We need to get out of here. No plan ever survives contact with the enemy, and when Cerberus gets their act together and understands something is very wrong here I don't want to be here when troops shows up." Shepard explained. He tapped his omni-tool and brought up the navigation screen. They had to walk a fairly long way to get to the sewage plant and the sewers.

"I'd like to take point." Aria said from behind Shepard.

Shepard turned surprised, although it was not visible through the faceplate. Finally he nodded, "Okay, you can do that."

* * *

Oleg Petrovsky was pacing frantically around what once was the dance floor's bar. Instead of serving alcohol, Cerberus had turned it into a snack bar. And Petrovsky was on his fifth cup of coffee for the morning. He was anxious. They had yet to establish communications with Warlock squad at the spaceport. And Warlock had not fixed any more problems since the airlocks. Petrovsky could not help to wonder if something was terribly wrong. He could not dispel the thought that there could be some kind of guerilla attack on the spaceport, but ever since taking control over Omega the mercenary groups had been pacified to the point that they could not muster any attack. As there had been no ships entering the system he didn't think that there was an outside attack on Omega. But he felt uneasy about the whole situation.

His military mind raced as he tried to figure out what could have happened. He sighed inwardly, If there was a problem at that spaceport, it was either system malfunctions or an attack. It was that simple. He cursed himself for having reduced his active forces around the station. He had become too complacent because of the lack of dangers since taking over Omega. Instead of having a platoon at the spaceport he had positioned a squad.

_Idiot!_

Petrovsky turned around and ran to the other side of the hall. "Have we heard anything yet from Warlock?"

The communications officer turned in his chair, "No sir."

"Alright, send engineers and a platoon to the spaceport. Have we heard anything from anyone else?"

"All is normal." The communications officer turned to his terminal, "I'll direct the troops."

"Good." In reality it was not good at all he thought, Petrovsky did not like the situation one bit.

* * *

Aria was on point, leading the team to the sewage plant with Shepard behind her. To gain lost time, she had suggested taking a short cut through a warehouse ward. The engagement with the Cerberus squad had set them back in time, and they needed to preferably be in position to assault Afterlife when the Normandy and her fleet started their attack on the Cerberus fleet. Aria had been surprised by the minimal resistance at the spaceport, had General Petrovsky lost his edge? Not that she could claim to know the man after their short encounter, but he had struck her as a no nonsense kind of man. He was certainly well versed in military operations.

The warehouse ward was brimming with worn down and crummy buildings filled with components, machinery and other materials that was stored there. Some discarded, some not. Since Cerberus took over, the warehouse ward on the Gozu district was now abandoned.

The team reached a court yard surrounded by buildings, cranes, a large loading dock, a conveyor system and small shacks. Aria stopped near a repair shack and the others behind her stopped as well. She scanned the immediate area in front of her but she could not see anyone. Figuring it was safe she took a few steps ahead but stopped again when she saw the lights of a very large service lift further down blinking. But before she could voice hear concern to Shepard, the large elevator door slowly opened and revealed a platoon of Cerberus troopers exiting.

"Get down!" She hissed into her mouthpiece and slid down to cover behind the repair shack. The rest of the team scurried to cover behind whatever crates they could find nearby which provided the best cover.

Shepard had hugged the wall with his back near Aria. He asked, "What?"

Aria peered across the corner of the shack and saw the platoon moving through the court yard; they were less than 100 meters from them.

"A Cerberus platoon, about 30 of them, just exited the large cargo elevator further down the court yard." Aria explained.

"Shit." Shepard muttered. "Probably reinforcements."

Aria retreated from the corner and pressed her back against the wall next to Shepard, "Possibly, but regardless, they will reach our position soon."

Shepard sighed and shook his head before his tactical mind headed to work, "We will have a better chance if we attack them from two fronts. I'll take two, and Miranda you take charge of the rest here." Shepard paused while he leaned out on his side of the shack and looked down the low wall that extended from the shack and ended at a loading dock further down.

"Yeah, I'll take my team down this small wall here to the loading dock and engage the enemy from the side."

"You got it Shepard." Miranda responded from behind a crate.

"Zaeed and Liara, on me." Shepard ordered as he walked around the corner of the shack and ducked down the low wall. Zaeed and Liara moved up from their crates and ended up next to Shepard. The trio began to traverse the length of the wall, keeping a low profile.

Miranda headed to the shack from her crate and positioned himself next to Aria and asked, "What do you see, T'Loak?"

Aria peered once again around the corner of the small shack, the platoon was in the middle of the court yard.

"They're half way here."

Miranda transmitted, "Shepard, what do you want us to do?"

There was a short moment of silence before Shepard responded in their earpieces, "Alright, we're running out of time. Light 'em up."

"My pleasure." Aria said deadly. She stepped out of cover and with a swift motion of her arm she unleashed a shockwave that tore through the small advance team of the platoon, the men screamed as the biotic explosions ripped their armor and almost severing their limbs. Aria returned to cover just as bullets began raining down on their position, hitting the shack's walls.

From behind her, Miranda stepped aside from the shack so she had clear view of the court yard. Seeing a trooper trying to get up from the ground she used her biotics and lifted up the trooper who was then slammed into the ground with a bone crunching sound. He didn't move anymore. As the remaining troopers of the advance team retaliated by opening fire at their direction, Miranda darted back to cover.

"We got their attention." Miranda said. On her right both Garrus and Vega was positioned in cover behind a series of crates next to the shack and opened fire in controlled bursts with their assault rifles at the enemy.

* * *

Shepard led the two others down the wall. They could hear the sounds of gunfire and synthetic screams as the others had begun their attack. Shepard stopped and turned to the two others. They were about halfway to the loading dock, running while keeping a low profile was not very fast. Shepard peeked above the wall to see what was happening.

"We can't be dickin' around 'ere fer an' all long, Shepard. We need ter get in' the fight." Zaeed growled impatiently.

Inside her helmet, Liara rolled her eyes and suppressed a sigh at Zaeed's _'eloquent'_ use of words.

In the middle of the courtyard, Shepard saw that the Cerberus platoon was being hammered by the surprise attack moments ago, but that would soon change if the platoon got their act together. Several troopers from the advance squad had fallen back a bit and taken cover behind some crates stacked on each other. The rest of the platoon provided cover fire from behind cover in the back ranks and deployed smoke grenades as cover.

"This is as good as place as any." Shepard said. "Let's engage."

* * *

The Cerberus duty officer, Hudson, ran up the stairs to the balcony overlooking the control room/dance hall. He hooked a right and continued down the hallway to the private area of the former night club were the commanding officer was residing. After running past several VIP tables the officer ended up in another hallway that led directly to Petrovsky's quarters. Hudson stopped and was panting heavily after running. He banged on the door with his fist and moments passed by before the door eventually slid open to reveal Petrovsky.

"What is it Lieutenant?" Petrovsky asked as he watched the young Cerberus officer out of breath.

"Sir, Havoc 6-1 is reporting contact with a small enemy force in the warehouse ward of the Gozu district. Apparently it looks like a mercenary squad, mixed races."

"Son of a bitch!" Petrovsky exclaimed as he walked out of the room, the duty officer stepped aside to make room for Petrovsky in the hall. "Walk with me Lieutenant."

The young officer walked behind Petrovsky as they hurried through the hallway.

"Talk to me." Petrovsky ordered.

"Sir, they were heading for the spaceport when they were engaged by the enemy. They're receiving small arms fire and biotics."

"Casualties?"

"A handful sir."

The two left the hallway and was walking above the control room/dance floor.

"How the hell did this happen? I thought we had pacified all the mercs on this station. And the weaponry, how did they get hold of that?"

"It's a big station sir; they could have hidden the weapons and the biotic amps somewhere we couldn't find them."

Petrovsky nodded. Regardless of what he thought of the eerie modifications that had been made on his soldiers, he could not deny that they served a purpose. Cerberus soldiers had been turned into a potent fighting force that could rival even Alliance N7 Special Forces or the turian Blackwatch.

* * *

Aria and Miranda had retreated away from the shack. Aria had slid behind the wall behind it as Miranda had taken cover behind a crate next to Garrus. Aria rose quickly from cover and unleashed another shockwave before taking cover again. The shockwave moved forward and knocked down the last few Cerberus troopers of the advance team that were behind some crates. On her left further down the wall, both Shepard and Zaeed took the opportunity to each hurl away a grenade at the enemies that tried to pick themselves up from the ground despite their severe injuries. Shepard's grenade hit a trooper in the head as it detonated, and the headless body slumped down on the ground. Zaeed's inferno grenade detonated and sent out smaller fragments that killed the two remaining enemies on the ground, its plasma burning away at their armor and bodies.

Liara broke cover and biotically pulled away a trooper that had been hiding behind a crate. As the trooper was pulled at Liara's direction, she aimed her Tempest submachine gun at the helpless trooper and quickly killed him. The body floated before the biotic power wore off and the body fell to the ground. Shepard and Zaeed joined her and opened fire at the troopers before the three of them returned to cover when a few enemies opened fire at their direction.

Aria reloaded her Punisher before she peeked above the wall, there was still a substantial enemy force left in front of them firing at their direction, obscured at the moment by smoke cover. To even the odds she unleashed yet another shockwave at the smoke screen, although she could not see her handy work, the screams in pain were enough to satisfy her curiosity what had happened.

"Concentrate on those bulky guys-" Shepard instructed over the radio net.

"Centurions." Miranda interjected.

"-whenever you see them, they're popping smoke all over the place."

Both Garrus and Zaeed had reverted back to their sniper rifles, with their modified scopes they could switch on thermal imaging and see the body heat through the smoke. They fired off a few shots through the smoke and Zaeed reported a kill.

Aria dared the incoming fire again and unleashed a new shockwave attack; she grinned again when she heard the screams from the injured troopers that were tossed around by the biotic force.

The smoke began to diminish and soon gave Shepard and his squad a clear view of the court yard again.

A lone figure dashed across the court yard as a few smoke grenades released its content on the court yard. The man slid down near a crate and began to deploy a turret next to the crate; it was facing directly at Shepard and his squad. Aria was about to call out the threat and open fire when the Cerberus engineer suddenly was lifted up several meters above the ground by a blue glow and slammed into the ground. Aria could not see the aftermath of the biotic attack because of the crate, but Miranda was fairly certain she had killed the Cerberus engineer, or atleast incapacitated him. The half-deployed turret was quickly destroyed by a combined biotic and gunfire attack.

Aria popped out cover again and fired her weapon in short controlled bursts at the Cerberus troopers that were darting from cover to cover, trying to advance on Shepard's squad. Several of her rounds hit a Centurion in the torso. He stopped in his tracks and staggered from the kinetic shock. Aria finished off the trooper with a burst of rounds to the head. The Centurion fell to the ground. Aria returned to cover behind the wall as several Cerberus troops directed their fire at her in retaliation.

While hunched down at the wall she saw Liara further down next to Shepard and Zaeed. She broke cover and spawned a singularity near another small squad of three Cerberus troopers behind some stacked crates. The troops were captured in its radius and lifted of ground, exposing them. Aria took the opportunity and rose up from cover and unleashed a biotic warp that detonated the singularity a few seconds later. A tremendous biotic explosion slung the screaming Cerberus troopers away from cover. One of the troopers landed close to the loading dock and Shepard and Zaeed quickly rose from cover and killed the helpless and already dying Cerberus trooper. The two others lied on the ground, motionless.

The enemy gunfire died down and it was eerie quiet in the court yard. The silence was interrupted from a shot echoing from Garrus' M97. He reported the kill over the radio and hunched down again behind the crate to reload his rifle. Aria was perplexed that the enemy had disengaged and she scanned the area ahead of her.

"Anyone got anything?" Shepard asked from his position.

"Negative, I-" Garrus was interrupted by the sound of a gunship engine as it popped up from behind one of the buildings behind the Cerberus squad. The Mantis positioned itself near the court yard while the gunner searched for targets. The double-barreled machine gun spooled up and opened fire. The mass-accelerated rounds ripped right through the small shack near Aria's position, sending bits and pieces of its thin walls and roof flying. Moments later the gunner fired several unguided rockets that struck the shack and also blowing off a chunk of the wall behind it near Aria who huddled up as much as possible to protect herself from the explosion and the debris. The shack soon collapsed on itself as the gunner continued firing at their position.

"Keep your heads down!" Shepard ordered from his hiding spot. He tried to keep himself as low as possible, but with two others nearby, it was ver cramped behind the wall.

The gunfire stopped as the gunner continued to search after targets, panning the turret back and forth, patiently waiting for anyone to pop up from cover.

Behind his crate, Vega put his rifle on the ground and reached for his missile launcher on his back. He peered carefully across the top of the crate, the guns of the gunship were pointed at the direction of Shepard and the others so he rose from cover. He leveled the missile launcher on his shoulder and aimed it at the gunship. The targeting mechanism locked onto the gunship and through the sight he had a clear line of fire. Vega switched of the safety with his thumb and pulled the trigger. With a slight thump the weapon fired one of two missiles and it left the tube and flew towards the target with a contrail of white smoke emitting from the rocket engine.

The missile accelerated but the pilot of the gunship pulled up in a high-g maneuver and dropped several bundles of countermeasures to spoof the missile's targeting system. Instead the missile failed to track its target and flew harmless below the gunship and struck the building behind it, exploding as it penetrated the wall, sending debris flying.

Vega quickly dropped to cover as the gunner turned the machineguns on Vega's position and opened fire in retaliation. The remains of the Cerberus platoon opened fire again at Shepard and his squad, providing cover for their gunship.

Garrus said from behind his own crate behind Vega, "The pilot's just going to drop countermeasures over and over, it's no use."

"We'll need to overwhelm him with missiles." Shepard said, he had dropped his own rifle on the ground and reached for his missile launcher. "Garrus, we'll need a third shooter, the rest of you will have to provide cover fire. Do not fire the missiles at the same time guys."

Aria had listened in and carefully peered over the wall on her end, "We better do something fast, because they're slowly advancing on our position."

The gunship concentrated its fire on the other squad and Shepard took the opportunity and glanced at the court yard from his position; he saw several Cerberus troopers advancing on them through the court yard and several smoke grenades released smoke around them.

"Be ready!" Shepard ordered as he dropped down below cover.

The rest of the squad, sans the missile shooters began to return fire. Shepard, Liara and Zaeed didn't receive the same amount of fire as the others did so Liara and Zaeed were able to direct more accurate fire and biotics at the troopers. The others had to blind fired over their covers as not to expose themselves to the volley of gunfire that was directed at them from both the troopers and the gunship. Vega and Garrus quickly agreed on who to fire first after Shepard's attack.

Shepard tightened his grip on the missile launcher and brought it up to his shoulder as he rose from cover, the weapon quickly locked onto the target. The gunship began turning as the pilot was alerted to the new threat through his suite of computers and warning receivers. Wasting no time, Shepard switched of the safety catch and pulled the trigger. A missile was launched from the weapon and it soared through the air. Shepard turned down to cover again.

The Mantis pulled up and turned to the right and a new bundle of countermeasures was released from its lower fuselage. Shepard's missile lost track of the gunship and flew past the gunship, striking a building behind the Mantis.

As the gunship turned its attention to the direction of the first missile attack, Garrus and Vega saw a small window of opportunity to attack. They stood up from behind cover and aimed their launchers at the gunship and Garrus fired his missile first. The gunship had to break of the attack and dodge the incoming missile. Garrus' missile was soon followed by a new missile when Vega fired his last one. The attack had the desired effect Shepard had hoped for as it quickly overwhelmed the pilot who dumped more countermeasures but that only tricked Garrus' missile which flew past the Mantis.

Vega's missile was still tracking and struck the gunship in one of its thrusters, a bright explosion rocked the gunship and the thruster stopped working, coughing as it slowly died. The gunship was still airborne, trying to achieve level flight but shuddered. The pilot then tried to turn around and head away, saving the dying aircraft.

Shepard rose again from cover and locked the last remaining missile on the target, daring the rounds that were fired at him. He fired the missile at the gunship and quickly headed down to cover again. The second missile blew off a chunk of the gunship's tail and one of the tail stabilizing wings, leaking oil and hydraulic fluid from the tail. The pilot continued fly towards the buildings but after a few seconds of stuttered flight the damaged vertical and horizontal fin assembly turned into a black blur of smoke before it exploded.

The gunship began to spin to the left, loosing lateral control, the nose of the Mantis began to pitch forward and the spin increased. The gunship began to plummet towards the court yard, one of its wings clipped the top of a warehouse building and the gunship turned to its side and slammed into the court yard where the remains of the Cerberus platoon was, they had noticed the crashing gunship and tried to outrun it, but the gunship slid through the court yard with tremendous force, sending concrete, crates, walls and other materials flying, as well as unfortunate Cerberus troopers that were hit by the gunship. The Mantis slowed down and made a full stop on its side, leaning on the wall of a warehouse.

The Cerberus gunfire had died down as the kicked up dust settled. Vega rose from his cover and shouted triumphantly, "Eat that you fuckers!"

Aria had seen the entire spectacle as the gunship crashed, she chuckled lightly. She couldn't come to terms if it all had happened because of Shepard's skill or his luck. But she decided not to question anything, she was merely happy that the threat was gone, in a quite spectacular fashion too boot.

Shepard discarded his spent missile launcher and reached for his M96. He rose from cover and scanned the devastated area in front of him, ready to fire his weapon at any hostiles. But he saw none.

"Everyone alright?" Shepard asked as he glanced over to his right and the team that was spread out.

"Miranda reporting in."

"Vega here."

"I'm fine." Aria reported.

"Garrus here."

Shepard gave Liara and Zaeed a quick look over who stood up from the ground.

"I'm fine John." Liara said.

"Yeah yeah, let's go kill some mawer Cerberus shits." Zaeed growled.

"You two on me." He then looked down the wall to where Aria was who was also standing up, searching for targets, "Aria on us, we'll clear the area, the rest of you cover us."

Vega, Garrus and Miranda acknowledged Shepard's order and aimed their weapons downrange. Shepard vaulted over the wall with Liara and Zaeed close by and they walked slowly towards the crash site. With her weapon at the ready, Aria vaulted over the wall and soon joined them. The four man squad swept the crash site, slowly checking every cover they could find, searching after survivors, but saw only mutilated bodies. Soon they concluded that the surviving platoon had died in the crash.

"It's clear." Shepard reported and motioned for the three others to follow him, "Miranda, assemble in the court yard."

"On it." Miranda said and led Vega and Garrus to meet up with Shepard and his impromptu squad in the middle of the court yard.

"Damn Loco!" Vega exclaimed when the team was assembled. "That was nuts!"

"Yeah, I agree with James, that's one for the books." Garrus was grinning under the helmet.

"Oi Shepard, I take extra fer anti-air yew know?"

Shepard chuckled, "Well it's good that you didn't shoot any missiles then, Zaeed. Even better that I don't pay you anything."

Zaeed snorted and shook his head as he holstered his M92 and retrieved _Jessie _instead.

"I call that luck Shepard." Liara said. "Pure luck."

Shepard gazed on Miranda who had said nothing; he suspected she was mildly amused about him daring enemy fire that way.

"Alright then, were to?" Shepard turned to Aria, "I want to get out of here now."

"We can go through the back yard over there." She pointed to a fenced area further down on the opposite side of the court yard from the crash site. "It'll take us to the sewage plant, it's not far away now."

Shepard nodded, "Okay, you're on point again."

* * *

"Havoc 6-1 is gone, so is X-ray 2." The duty officer informed Petrovsky. "We can't reach them on the radio."

Petrovsky was perplexed to say the least. "Are you telling me that a bunch of mercs took out one of my platoons, and a gunship?"

The Lieutenant hesitated for a moment before he spoke, "Yes sir. It seems like that's the case."

Petrovsky sighed, "I want all units on full alert and I want the command center locked down! And send new teams to the warehouse and the spaceport."

The Lieutenant saluted, "Yes sir!" He turned away from Petrovsky and quickly walked over to one of the computer workstations to issue the orders to one of the operators.

Petrovsky shook his head. He decided to arm himself and walked to the doors that would take him to one of the lower floors where the armory was located. He sighed, _what the hell is going on?_

* * *

_**It took a couple of re-writes because almost towards the end of it I remembered to have Aria featured a little more prominently so I had to rewrite several segments. We are still jumping between characters, so it's not exclusively about Aria. I wanted several viewpoints of the attack.**_

_**I have added a new scene at the end of the prologue for those that missed that.**_

_**2012-09-03 (Edit): Made some changes, removed some stuff, fixed some grammar.  
**_

_**2012-09-04 (Edit): Added the segment from the start of the next chapter with Petrovsky here.  
**_

_****__**2012-10-09 (Edit): Fixed spelling errors, removed some stuff, clarified others.  
**_


	17. Operation Omega: Part 3

The team had arrived at the waste disposal plant in the outskirts of the warehouse ward. Once they got closer, Shepard had assumed lead and took the team deeper into the plant by cutting through a typical perimeter fence. The waste plant was as run down and gritty as any other building on Omega. The team was on edge, after their previous engagement they half-expected to make contact with Cerberus at any moment, but nothing happened. They moved slowly but they were aware of the clock ticking down. Shepard took a quick look on the time on his omni-tool, they had 30 minutes left. Aria quickly pointed them to the manhole in a processing building which would take them underground.

Shepard ordered Garrus and Vega to open up the manhole cover, they found some picks which they used to lift of the cover.

Liara stood a few meters away from the manhole, she privately thanked the environmentally sealed armours, the odor coming from the manhole was most likely not very pleasant.

"Disgusting." Liara murmured quietly. She crossed her arms.

Miranda came stopped next to Liara, "I agree, but the alternative is worse than some foul smell."

Vega straightened himself up after they had removed the cover and asked, "We won't have to worry about sewer alligators, right?" Vega's voice carried a mix of amusement and concern.

"What?" Garrus asked bewildered on the behalf of the non-humans present. "What's that?"

Miranda shook her head, "It's just a urban myth from the early 20th century Earth, that large reptiles live in sewers in cities."

"That's stupid." Garrus said.

"Yeah, but do we even know what's down _there_?" Vega continued.

Shepard activated the flashlight on his rifle and walked over to the manhole, "Cut it, we're going down here that's that." Shepard knelt down and aimed the rifle down the dark hole, illuminating the darkness. There was a ladder leading down the large pipe, he saw a slow flow of sewage a few meters down. He had never had the '_pleasure'_ of going through sewage before while on a mission so it seemed it was always a first time for everything.

"You first." Liara said deadpanned from behind Shepard.

"Yeah." Shepard said unamused. He holstered his rifled and climbed down the ladder, a few moments later the people above him saw a light flicker on from the sewer pipe.

"You are all welcome to the party." Shepard reported.

Little over a minute later the team was assembled in the sewer pipe, sewage was flowing between their legs, reaching to the top of their boots of their armors, and it was pitch black, the only source of light was the flashlights on their weapons.

Shepard turned to Aria, "Okay, you know this way right?"

Aria nodded, "Yes. We'll need to head straight ahead 400 meters which will progressivly slope up, then in the junction we will go left 500 meters until we reach a dead end were we will find a passage to the club's own waste disposal."

"Okay, you are on point." Shepard simply said and motioned with his hand.

Aria nodded and walked past Shepard as she began walking the length of the sewer pipe with the rest in her wake.

"Stay close people, I don't want anyone lost here."

_"Eh, ground element?" _It was Joker in the radio with some interference. _"Blue Force Tracker dropped the fix on your position."_

"We're in the sewers, proceeding to target location." Shepard answered.

_"Okay, good luck."_

"Thank God for our armors." Vega complained when the transmission ended. "This can't be sanitary for one bit."

Liara exclaimed deadpanned from behind, "That's what I've been saying all long!"

Vega chuckled lightly. "It has to smell like shit down here."

"Yeah, but it won't kill you." Shepard said.

Vega snorted, "You sure about that Loco, it looks funky here. Or maybe you like getting dirty."

"Maybe I do James." Shepard said lighthearted.

There was a halfhearted chuckle from Vega. "I knew there was something wrong with you."

The rest of their journey through the underbelly of Omega continued in silence through the darkness that made the sewer pipe feel increasingly claustrophobic. As Aria had told them earlier, the pipe began to tilt upwards, making it increasingly difficult to walk thanks to the sewage and the slippery surface. But they used a rundown service gang walk, or what looked like one, which made their trek much easier. They grabbed onto the hand rail and soon they reached the plateau were the junction was , the junction split the pipe in several directions which continued into the dark. They took a left and continued on. According to Aria they had left the Gozu district when they arrived on the plateau. They pressed on through the muck until they reached the dead end Aria had talked about. They were directly under Afterlife.

Shepard aimed his rifle at the wall, illuminating the dead end, "So this is your secret passage to flee Afterlife if need be?"

Aria sighed, "Yes, I am not afraid of some sewage Shepard."

Shepard nodded and turned to her, "So what can we expect when we come up?"

"There's a waste disposal room in the back of the club, a hallway leads into the rest of the club, we'll emerge on the floor overlooking the main dance floor."

Shepard looked around, "How do we get there?"

Aria smirked, "Allow me." She holstered her weapon walked to the wall

"What do we do if that room is guarded?" Garrus asked from behind Shepard.

Shepard shrugged, "Let's hope not."

Aria pressed one of the tiles on the wall and a part of the wall, about the size of a small door, retracted with a hiss to reveal a very cramped compartment with a ladder leading up. Shepard walked up and aimed the weapon at it to illuminate it.

"There's only a small ledge after the climb so we'll need to climb up one at a time. I'll climb up and open the passage." Aria said and reached for the ladder.

* * *

Petrovsky and his duty officer were looking at a holographic monitor, waiting for a link with the team at the warehouse ward to be established. The communications officer was typing on his keyboard and a few moments later a live feed was established. The platoon commander on the other end looked down on his omni-tool.

"What's the situation Lieutenant?" Petrovsky asked.

_"We reached the court yard, and we can confirm the loss of Havoc and X-ray."_ The Lieutenant responded through the computer's speakers.

Petrovsky still cringed inwardly at the synthetic voices of his troops.

The Lieutenant panned his omni-tool around the court yard where the bodies of the platoon, and the crashed gunship, were seen on the monitor.

"Christ." Petrovsky muttered. "The mercs did all that?"

The panning stopped and the Lieutenant on the other end brought the omni-tool up to his helmet so he could see Petrovsky at the commander center, _"It appears so sir. What do you want us to do?"_

"We'll clean that up later, head to the spaceport and rendezvous with the team heading there."

_"Roger that."_ The link was severed.

"32 men and one gunship..." Petrovsky stared at the monitor for a few seconds before he turned to Hudson. "Have we any footage from the spaceport? We have cameras there."

Hudson shook his head, "Sorry sir, we can't establish a download link with the servers."

Petrovsky frowned "What? Why?"

The communications officer sitting at the computer spoke without looking up from his computer, "Well...eh...sir, it appears that all the ports and hard drives are clogged up with...well...porn. We're talking exabyte after exabyte. We don't dare to connect and even try and remove anything as it could be loaded with malicious software. Who knows what that could do to the rest of the system."

Petrovsky looked baffled at the communications officer at the chair and then the duty officer, "The mercs hacked our systems at the spaceport and did that?"

"Apparently sir." The communications officer answered.

Petrovsky sighed, "Allocate the advanced CPU's and isolated servers to get through all that crap, I want too see any video images that are on those cameras." The General turned to Hudson, "And you are sure there's no one in the system, the Sahrabarik system I mean?"

"Negative sir, nothing." Hudson said.

Petrovsky turned to the communications officer again, "Have the fleet do a scan of the system."

"Yes sir." The communications officer began typing a flash message to all ships.

"You think we're not alone sir?"

Petrovsky shrugged and turned to the young officer, "I'd like to know how the systems got clogged up, and that the airlocks at the spaceport opened shortly before the battle at the warehouse ward is indeed suspicious. I can tell you that we will find the small team at the spaceport dead as well."

"You don't think this is the work of mercenaries?"

Petrovsky shook his head, "I don't think so, this seems to be too advanced for any mercs that would still be alive on the station. How would they be able to hack our systems without specialized equipment?"

"There's still the distinct possibility that they had hidden a lot of stuff."

"I'm having my doubts Lieutenant."

"So this could be the Alliance...?" Hudson almost whispered.

"They got two ships in inventory that can infiltrate without being detected, the SSV Ain Jalut and the Normandy."

Hudson's eyes widened, "You think Shepard is here General?"

"Our forces did battle him and his squad on Mars." Petrovsky stated. "He escaped Earth. And our intelligence believes that the Ain Jalut survived their battle with the Reapers. And those ships carry the new shuttles that are built with stealth technology."

"Oh God." Hudson murmured.

"Have all forces continue on their high alert readiness, and lock down all districts."

Hudson snapped to attention and saluted, "Yes sir!"

* * *

Joker sat in the cockpit of the Normandy and was watching a Blasto film on one of the monitors to pass time quicker In orbit around the Bindur not much was happening as they waited for the mercenary fleet. A quick glance on one of the screens indicated that they had a little over one hour left until they had to vent the sinks. So everything was hanging on the mercenary fleet. If not, he had no idea how Shepard and the others would return.

His thoughts were interrupted as EDI began talking _"Jeff, the Cerberus ships are running active scans of the system."_

Joker quickly swiped his hand over the interface and do away with the film and watched one of the other screens, "Yeah, you are right."

He quickly glanced at the Blue Force Tracker, but it was still dark. Shepard and the others were still underground. A few moments later though, that changed as a fix on one of them showed up.

Joker pressed a holographic button, "Ground team come in."

Silence. He tried again, "Commander come in."

A few moments later of silence, the Blue Force Tracker had a fix on another team member."

"Normandy to ground team come in."

_"Yeah, what is it Joker?"_ Shepard asked over the radio.

"Sir, the Cerberus fleet is scanning for something in the system, probably us. Are you alright?"

_"Huh, they're suspecting something I guess. Yeah, we're fine. We're at the target objective."_

"Great, then we can get the show on the road. There's still 7 minutes left until the mercs show up."

_"Yeah copy that. Transmit when they show up."_

"Copy."

Joker straightened himself in the seat and swiped his hand over the interface. The Normandy began moving away from Bindur and headed towards Omega, Joker intended to get into position so he could engage the enemy when their allies arrived through the relay. The Normandy would be the first to attack as the mercenary fleet had to get into position from the relay.

Joker opened up the ships intercom, "All hands to battle stations, be ready for combat."

EDI spoke, _"Fire solutions are locked into the computers Jeff, and we're ready to fire."_

* * *

"So what do we do?" Aria asked and watched Shepard. Behind him Liara climbed up from the ladder and entered the waste disposal room from the opened passage in the wall.

Earlier, Aria had climbed up and arrived in a very small compartment. She had then punched in a code into a keypad and the wall had slid to the side to reveal the club's waste disposal, a room with several trash compactors.

"First I'd like to know what awaits us on the other side of that door." Shepard said and pointed at the exit down the length of the room.

Aria nodded, "We'll enter a hallway that will lead into the floor and balcony overlooking the main dance floor. There are also two staircases on the opposite sides of the balcony leading down to the main floor. I suspect that Cerberus have turned that dance floor into a command center, if not we'll have to find it."

Shepard nodded and then looked down on his omni-tool, "The fleet will be here in 7 minutes."

The last man up was Garrus, the team was now assembled and Shepard turned to them.

"Ok, outside that door we will be able to reach the main dance floor which probably have been converted to a command center, there will be two staircases opposite each other on the upper floor leading down to the dance floor. I want two teams assaulting with flashbangs. I'll take Liara and Aria, Miranda you take the rest and position yourself near the other flight of stairs."

"Okay Shepard." Miranda said.

"Questions?"

"Rules of Engagement?" Liara asked.

"We shoot first and ask questions later, I want to lock down the command center and don't want to worry too much about taking prisoners, but if people surrender we'll take them alive and worry about them later. Liara I want you on the computers as soon as possible. If the command center is not on the main dance floor we advance further down into the club and find it. Regardless, I want a team to secure the rest of the club after we've secured the command floor."

The assembled team acknowledged his orders.

"You all heard Joker, the Cerberus fleet is scanning the system so Cerberus suspects something is wrong. We'll get in position and attack when our ships engage the Cerberus fleet."

* * *

Petrovsky was hovering behind the communications officer who was typing away on the keyboard. They had been effective enough to access the clogged up systems and had began erasing everything. The officer sitting at the computer was confident enough that they could access the video images in a few moments.

"I got it!" The officer exclaimed triumphantly and pressed a button on his keyboard.

Petrovsky turned his attention to the monitor that began showing images from the tarmac at the spaceport. Nothing happened for almost a minute, the images shown were merely of the airlocks that had opened. Petrovsky was about to tell the communications officer to speed forward when a Alliance colored Kodiak shuttle flew through the barrier curtain and landed on a platform.

_The Alliance! _Petrovsky could scarcely believe it, they had been infiltrated.

"Fuck." Hudson blurted out, he stood next to Petrovsky watching the same images.

The shuttle door opened and revealed a turian and a human jumping out and taking up position near a wall.

"Zoom in on the human!" Petrovsky ordered.

The communications officer tapped a key and the program zoomed in on the man.

Petrovsky could not identify the Alliance marine, but the black tinted armor with the N7 logo on the torso confirmed his fears. The Alliance was here and the man leading them was probably Commander Shepard. Several other armed people jumped out of the shuttle.

"They're out there somewhere." Petrovsky said antagonized. "I want increased patrols in the Gozu district, with everything locked down they can't have come very far. I want them hunted down and killed. I want Shepard alive, or whoever that man is that's leading them."

"Yes sir." Hudson said and ran off to the other side of the hall.

Suddenly one of the radar operators shouted in surprise, "Holy shit! We got unknown contacts coming out of FTL!"

Petrovsky ran up to the radar operator, "Any id?"

"Negative sir, standby." The radar operator activated the IFF system of his computer.

There was a flurry of activity in the command center. Operators hunched down at their computers were trying to coordinate a counter-attack.

Petrovsky took a deep breath and tried to calm down. He smelt a hint of a strange odor coming from somewhere above him. He frowned; not only did they have the Alliance running around and they were attacked by unknown ships, the fans were beginning to act up as well. Omega was not the most sanitary place in the Milky Way.

Suddenly he heard a thump near his feet; Petrovsky looked down and was surprised when he saw the unmistaken form of a flashbang grenade. He tried to turn away but the sudden bright flash activated all the light sensitive cells in his eyes, he was blinded. The loud concussion noise not only deafened his ears, but it disturbed the ears fluid, causing him too loose balance. He screamed in pain.

* * *

_A few moments earlier._

Shepard slowly and quiet hugged the wall next to him near the stair case. The team had exited the waste room without incident and there were no guards on the floor and balcony above the dance floor. And Aria had been right; the entire main floor had been converted into a state-of-the-art command center. Alongside the walls there were workstations manned by operators. The large circular opening in the center usually had a purple holographic cylindrical display that extended from the ceiling through the entire night club was now shut down. The large suspended circular ring were asari dancers usually were was empty. Aria had a few seconds earlier muttered that Cerberus would pay for this desecration of her club.

"We're in position, so far so good." Miranda reported form the other side of the floor.

"Good, standby." Shepard responded. He looked down on his omni-tool, the fleet should have arrived 15 seconds ago and Shepard was a little apprehensive now. Joker had earlier reported that he and the Normandy was speeding through space to set up in preparation for the attack. Now everything hinged on the mercenary fleet.

In either case, they had to carry out the attack even if the mercenary fleet did not arrive. Cerberus apparently knew Shepard and the others were on the station. Getting off Omega without the mercs would be difficult if it came to that. He just didn't trust mecenaries, whatever Aria had said.

His line of thought was suddenly interrupted when someone below them shouted, _"Holy shit! We got unknown contacts coming out of FTL!"_

"_They are here Commander. We're engaging."_ Joker reported in Shepard's earpiece.

_Finally_, Shepard thought. He reached for a flashbang in one of his pouches and ordered, "Okay people, look lively. Flashbangs out!"

He quickly rose from the wall and looked down on the dance floor; he hurled the grenade over the wall into the hall. Next to him, Aria and Liara threw out one flashbang each as well and the trio quickly returned to cover and grabbed their weapons.

Several loud bangs were heard and the hall was momentarily lit up by several accompanying flashes. Shepard stood up and quickly ran around the corner with his M96 at the ready.

* * *

The Normandy was already travelling at FTL speeds, racing across the system towards Omega, when the mercenary fleet entered the system. It had been a gamble from Joker's side, but he needed to be in position and now the Normandy was almost at Omega. The mercenary fleet was also heading towards Omega at FTL speeds. The Cerberus fleet was in a defensive posture, waiting for the mercenary fleet which they had already detected, but they did not know of the Normandy's presence.

The Normandy was much closer to Omega and at the outer edge of the asteroid field orbiting the center of the system the Normandy dropped out of FTL and quickly proceeded to engage the Cerberus fleet. The powerful Thanix-cannon extended from underneath the fuselage fired a massive blue slug from the double barreled cannon; accelerating through space it hit its target, a Cerberus cruiser, about 30 seconds after leaving the Thanix-cannon. Ripping apart the cruiser, which floated dead in space, leaving Cerberus with only five ships left.

The other ships was surprised by the sudden attack on their flank, one frigate and one cruiser turned to engage the Normandy whose approximate location showed up on their scopes after it had opened fire and vented it's sinks. The Normandy was now closer to the station itself and Joker needed to be extra vigilante as the battle occurred within a few light-seconds distance away from the Normandy.

At the same time, the mercenary fleet; two frigates, one cruiser and the dreadnought, exited FTL near Omega and proceeded to engage the Cerberus fleet. The dreadnought-converted-to-a-carrier launched several divisions of fighters, but stayed as far away from the ship-to-ship battle as possible. Cerberus also launched several divisions of fighters from Omega, several spaceports had been converted to house fighters instead of commuter shuttles.

There was a large gap in capability between the Cerberus and mercenary fighters. The Cerberus pilots were flying F-61 Tridents, while the mercenary pilots flew the previous generation of fighters, Cerberus had the upper hand. A chaotic dogfight around the asteroid field erupted, a massive amount of mass effect generated rounds and disruptor torpedoes were fired between the two forces.

The Normandy pulled up as the two Cerberus ships opened fire with several disruptor torpedoes as well as the cruiser's main gun. The enemy fire missed the Normandy as it made an inverted roll and brought the nose down on the Cerberus ships. The Normandy locked its weapons system onto the Cerberus cruiser and opened fire with a salvo of torpedoes that effectively ripped apart the hull of the ship before the Normandy fired its main gun on the target. Another blue slug was fired from the Normandy's cannon at the cruiser which punched right through it as explosions enveloped the dying ship.

* * *

_A few minutes earlier._

Aria was behind Shepard and followed him down the flight of stairs and on the other side of the room Miranda's team quickly ran down to the hall. The Cerberus staff was dazed and disoriented, some screamed in pain after the flashbang attack, instinctively holding their hands over their eyes.

On Aria's left a row of several workstations had been set up near the wall and the three Cerberus operators tried to move away, but being blinded and disoriented they would not get very far. Aria moved her arm swiftly and unleashed a shockwave towards the Cerberus personnel that was staggering near the chairs. The biotic force made contact within a few short seconds and severely injured the three unprotected humans, tossing them to the sides, their bodies hit the walls and the handrail around the circular opening in the middle. If not killing them out right they would be incapacitated by the shockwave.

Gunfire erupted around the hall as the other team members opened fire at the Cerberus personnel, two guards at the exit was quickly shot and killed by Zaeed and Vega before they continued through the dance floor. Miranda used her biotics to lift an unsuspecting Cerberus worker of the ground and who was then slammed into the ground. Shepard and Garrus quickly killed two other dazed guards at the other door below what once was Aria's private booth that overlooked the dance floor.

Aria hurried past the large circular opening in the middle. Near one of the staircases leading up to her private booth, Petrovsky was staggering from the effects of the flashbangs, he was wearing Cerberus assault armor and was trying to pull out a Hornet sub-machine gun from his side. Aria used a biotic push which propelled the Cerberus General into the workstation behind him. He slid down on the floor unconscious.

Liara was right behind Aria and used singularity to trap several other Cerberus personnel that was near a row of computers. Two of the three had begun to regain their consciousness when they were suddenly swept of the ground by the singularity which was soon detonated by a biotic warp launched by Miranda. The three Cerberus personnel was flung around the dance hall and they were either knocked unconscious or killed by the biotic explosion.

"Clear!" Vega reported from their back ranks.

"Clear here." Liara reported next to Aria.

"Check the bodies." Shepard ordered as he stepped up next to Aria as well, he noticed her stare at the man lying next to a demolished workstation. The others started a thorough sweep of the dance hall.

"Petrovsky?"

Aria nodded, "Yes."

Shepard turned to Vega and Zaeed who was on the other side of the hall near the exit, "Go downstairs and clear the club, if you run into trouble call for help."

The two men acknowledged and ran past the circular opening and proceeded through the door under Aria's private booth.

"Liara, on the computers and lock us down, try and isolate Cerberus troops and do what you can to disrupt their operations."

"Right Shepard." Liara responded and walked over to a terminal and sat down.

"None are alive Shepard." Garrus reported from the other row of computers behind Shepard and Aria.

"I concur." Miranda reported as she walked over to the others, "They all appear to be dead."

"Okay, good work people." Shepard turned to Liara who was sitting and typing away at the computer. "Anything?"

"Ah yes." She responded. "We're in lock down mode already. I'm in the process of scrambling communications, radars and sealing all airlocks at the spaceports where they're launching fighters."

"Good work."

Aria had watched the unconscious Petrovsky lying on the floor for a while. The man began to stir and slowly woke up.

* * *

Petrovsky's head was throbbing and his back ached. He didn't feel good at all. The last thing he remembered was several bright flashes and loud explosions and then he was suddenly lifted off the ground and had felt an excruciating pain eradiating through his body as he was thrown into the wall behind him. He began waking up and tried to open his eyes to look around. The eyes did not respond and the bright light in the room pained his senses.

He felt strong arms grabbing his own arms and he was abruptly yanked and dragged along the floor and forced down on his knees, someone grabbed his hands and kept them locked behind his head.

His eyes slowly adjusted and saw three people standing in front of him, one male and two females. The male had the same N7 armor as the man on the surveillance video and held onto a M96 rifle. Petrovsky began to look around and saw the dead bodies of his staff. On his left further down at row of computers sat another woman working at a terminal. He felt a foul smell from the people surrounding him; he figured it was that smell he felt right before the attack.

_Clever_, they had probably used some hidden passage to gain access to the club while he had his troops searching the Gozu district. Through the faceplate on one of the women he could see that it was an asari, he'd remember those eyes anywhere. It was Aria T'Loak. She had returned after all.

"General Oleg Petrovsky? Do you hear me?" The man in black armor asked through his voice module.

Petrovsky didn't answer, he wouldn't answer any questions, nor could he, the pain was too much at the moment that he could only gasp in pain. But he recognized that voice anywhere, it was Commander John Shepard. He had seen enough interviews with the man to know that voice.

A few seconds later one of the women spoke through her own module, "It is." The voice was full with hatred.

Petrovsky recognized that voice as well, it was indeed T'Loak. So she had enlisted the help of the Shepard to assault Omega? He had never thought that would happen.

"Right." Shepard muttered and looked up at the man behind Petrovsky that was holding on to his hands. "Garrus keep an eye on him, if he moves shot him."

Petrovsky heard nothing from the man behind him, which he figured was a turian due to the name and the unmistaken feel of a strong turian hand pressing on his arms. It was most likely Garrus Vakarian. The turian was famous for being part of the team that took down Saren years earlier. Petrovsky suddenly felt cold steel pressing on his neck. He slowly looked over his shoulder and saw an M3 pistol being pressed to the side of his neck.

Shepard turned and began talking to the other woman who also wore a black armor, but it was unlike Shepard's own. T'Loak remained still and had her eyes fixed on him. They were probably talking through their radios as he could not hear a single word.

He was a high-ranking Cerberus operative, and they were all outfitted with ocular nerve flashbangs, but he could not draw himself to that level of dedication, or devotion on the Cerberus cause to even think of using such device now to end his life. He had no illusion what end was waiting for him when Aria got her hands on him. He only wished that it would be a quick end.

* * *

"So what do we do now?" Miranda asked.

"We sit tight until the mercenary ground forces assaults Omega." Shepard answered.

The doors behind Garrus and Petrovsky opened with a hiss and Zaeed and Vega stepped through and walked up to the others.

"No problem I assume?" Shepard asked and turned to the two arrivals.

Zaeed shook his head, "No, we found no 'ostiles nor traps."

"_Commander?" _Joker called out.

"Yeah?"

"_Just wanted to report that we're making head way out here; the Cerberus fleet is in disarray. We're pummeling them into pieces."_

"Good. EDI?"

EDI responded, _"Yes Commander?"_

"Do you have enough processing power available to mine the Cerberus servers?"

"Yes Commander."

"Outstanding, I'll have Liara open up the network for you."

"_Of course Commander."_

"I'm on it Shepard." Liara responded when she had heard the communication.

Aria turned to Shepard, "I need to contact my fleet to prepare for the ground assault."

Shepard nodded, "Of course."

Aria walked away and began pushing a few buttons on her omni-tool to contact her fleet. Whatever she said the rest could not hear as she was on a separate channel.

In the corner of the hall near Shepard and Miranda, a badly damaged Quantum Entanglement Communicator was turned on. Shepard noticed the activity and turned his attention to it, and the familiar stature of the Illusive Man walked into view.

"_Shepard."_ The man greeted. He donned the same expensive suite as he always did, with the signature cigarette in hand. The holographic display was damaged as it flickered rapidly.

Shepard was not nearly as surprised as the others in the room was. Liara drew herself away from the monitor and looked at the QEC. From behind him Shepard could hear footsteps picking up speed as Aria ran back to the others. She had heard the voice.

Shepard activated his voice module and walked towards the QEC and stopped in front of it.

"I did not expect such _exquisite_ company." Shepard explained sarcastically. "I would have prepared."

The Illusive Man ignored the comment, _"I thought I told you Commander that I don't want you to interfere with my plans. And yet I find you at a Cerberus base." _The Cerberus leader took a drag from his cigarette and exhaled.

Shepard shrugged, "You didn't really think I would listen, do you?"

The Cerberus leader shook his head, _"No, unfortunately your actions are expected."_

From behind Shepard, Miranda walked up and stopped at his side.

The Illusive Man looked around the room and his eyes fixed on General Petrovsky, in a condescending tone he said, _"I always knew you were a weak man Oleg, you could never do what was necessary, not even now when Cerberus doctrine dictates that you can't be taken alive."_

Shepard glanced at the disgraced General, his head was slumped down. Shepard turned back to watch the Illusive Man who now turned his attention to Miranda. Shepard thought the Illusive Man was many things, most very unflattering, but he wasn't stupid. Even in combat armor, the Illusive Man figured out who the woman standing next to Shepard was.

"_Miranda. I was truly disappointed in your decision. With your service record you were the last one I expected to defect for this…man."_ His tone was harsh, but void of hatred. He took another drag from the cigarette.

"I made my decision." Miranda spoke through her own voice module. She crossed her arms. "That station needed to be wiped of the face of the galaxy. You couldn't be allowed access to such technologies."

The Illusive Man exhaled,_ "Well, in the end it didn't matter you see, but I never thought you were one of such short sighted nature. It has been a pleasure to work with you, but you'll understand that I need to contain the situation."_

Shepard turned slightly to Liara, he didn't want to have a repeat of Cerberus wiping all hard drives like on Mars, "Liara! Lock out all outside access!"

"I'm on it." Liara quickly turned to her terminal and began working.

"_You chose sides - you chose wrong, Miranda."_ The Illusive Man severed the connection.

Shepard walked over to Liara, "Talk to me."

"I don't know if they're trying to access the servers or not, but I've taken down almost all connections, EDI will still be able to continue the download."

Shepard patted her on the back, "Good work." Shepard walked back to Miranda who was staring at the shut down QEC.

"What the Illusive Man said, that sounded ominous didn't it?" Shepard said.

Miranda turned to him and nodded, "Indeed it did."

* * *

Soon Liara had taken control over several defense turrets that had been positioned around Afterlife and turned them on the Cerberus personnel outside; they never knew that the command center had been lost in the first place. The space battle was over within the hour and shuttles of mercenaries were flown into Omega and began engaging the Cerberus forces. Soon the entire bulk of the force was inserted, either through shuttles or ships docking with the station. The mercenary force also began using Mantis gunships within Omega, and with Cerberus air forces contained, the mercenaries soon had air superiority as well as space superiority. Mercenary commanders soon reported successes against the enemy.

Aria's own people soon docked near Afterlife and started to take over responsibilities from Shepard's squad as their job was more or less finished. EDI had successfully downloaded all the information they could get their hands on from the Cerberus servers, Aria was happy to let them leave with those copies. Liara would have her work cut out for some time as there was a lot of information to sift through.

There had still been the issue of General Petrovsky. Shepard had no idea what to do with him, they had all the intel they needed, and Shepard was unsure what they could have gotten out of the General. He contemplated on bringing him back to the Alliance but Aria wanted to exact revenge on him. Shepard had no love for Cerberus but was no sadist. But the issue resolved itself pretty quickly when Petrovsky, in a secluded corner guarded by several mercenaries, initiated his ocular nerve flashbang, the man's head was blown apart. Death was instantaneous.

During their sweep of Afterlife, Shepard had found several M96 rifles in Cerberus colors. Miranda had explained that those were converted into automatics and been named Harrier. They had been in R&D the previous year before rolling out the assembly lines. Shepard had made the decision to take several back to the Normandy.

Shepard had made the decision to leave Omega as Aria and the mercs seemed to have everything under control. At the exit, Shepard had assembled his team when Aria approached him.

"I want to thank for your assistance Shepard." She said earnestly and offered Shepard her hand which he shook. She had removed her helmet earlier and Shepard was surprised when she looked and sounded genuine.

"Sure. We delivered a blow to Cerberus operations so I'm content. We got a lot of information downloaded. Everybody got what they wanted."

Aria nodded, "I'll get you those forces when the time comes. With Omega firmly in my grasp again I have a lot more leeway, I'll have the rest of the mercenary bands in the palm of my hand soon enough."

"Right. We'll get out of your hair now. I got some official business to take care of."

Aria nodded and the two parted. The Normandy had docked at the docking bay closest to Afterlife. The team made its way there and entered through the air lock. The team had to stay in the decontamination compartment for several minutes. Not once or twice were they decontaminated, but even three times before the were allowed inside

Finally they entered the Normandy properly.

"What an incredible smell you've discovered!" Joker was standing at the threshold of the cockpit. Keeping some distance between himself and the others when the walked through the airlock. Jock tried not to inhale as the smell made him gag. The others passed by Shepard and Joker and they headed for the cargo bay to remove their armors and hand in their weapons. As they continued down the hallway to the CIC they got some stares because of the faint sewer smell.

Shepard chuckled, "Maybe you should come along next time?"

"No thanks, I'll stay right here." Joker replied deadpanned.

"Suit yourself," Shepard shrugged. "Get us to the Citadel. We have a Primarch to pick up and a summit to attend."

"You got it."

* * *

_**I'm not restricting equipment or weapons to any specific character or class (Liara for instance carried flashbangs).**_

_**Quotes from Transformers 3, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.**_

_**2012-09-04 (EDIT): Made a few changes, fixed some grammar etc. Moved the first segment with Petrovsky to the end of the previous chapter.  
**_

_****__**2012-10-08 (EDIT): Corrected some spelling errors, removed some entries and clarified other entries. Hopefully I've corrected all errors in the Omega chapters.  
**_


	18. Reflections

**_Fluff further ahead, you have been warned!_**

* * *

Miranda had a lot on her mind, she hadn't expected the Illusive Man to show up and directly talk to her. He never took rejection well, and when he said that he needed to _'contain the situation', _something clicked in her brain. She didn't know what he meant but she suddenly feared for Oriana's safety. Maybe Cerberus and the Illusive Man had other matters that were more important to them than the two sisters, but Miranda felt the urge to check up on Oriana.

She entered their quarters. As the others left John with Joker and headed for the elevator in the CIC, Miranda wanted as expedient as possible to get to their quarters and had asked Vega to take her weapons with him down the cargo bay. He had agreed but probably regretted that rather quickly as Garrus, Liara and Zaeed handed him their weapons as well, figuring it was unnecessary for them all to head to the armory.

Miranda quickly removed the straps on her battle armor and left it on the floor, underneath she had wore a light tank-top and figure hugging tights. Miranda was drenched in sweat after hours of combat inside the armor but she didn't care, instead she sat down at the computer in the office and logged onto the extranet chat-camera program. She needed to see for herself that Oriana was okay, not just to hear her voice or read a message. A quick glance on the clock and she knew it was early evening were Oriana was.

It couldn't have taken more than 30 seconds for the program to connect before Oriana answered the call but for Miranda it felt like an eternity. A wave of relief came over Miranda as her younger sister sat down at her own computer light years away.

It took a few seconds for the feed to load properly for Oriana as she had a curious look on her face until she saw Miranda properly on her own monitor. A heartfelt smile graced the younger sister's face. Miranda noted that the Normandy had far superior connection speed.

_"Miranda!" _

Miranda was as equally as happy as Oriana was. She felt her heart soar; her sister was safe and sound. Miranda thought it curious how great relationship they had now, being able to spend time together since after the Collector mission had made the sisters bond. She remembered that their first extranet text chat ended rather abruptly. Since then Miranda had become much more at ease around Oriana.

Although there were some topics she were reluctant to discuss. Her time with Cerberus she had only mentioned in passing, and then there was her relationship with John that she had only given bits and pieces about. Miranda was still not comfortable talking about it with others. Oriana had noticed that Miranda sometimes had been sad about something, and pressed her on it. Eventually Miranda confessed that she missed John, and Miranda knew she would regret it as Oriana was always full of questions about them after that revelation.

"Hey Ori." Miranda said.

_"What's up?"_

"Just wanted to talk a bit, see how you are doing." It wasn't a lie, not really.

"_It's fine. Although it's a lot going on around here."_

"Just remember to call me if something's is wrong, even the slightest."

_"I worry about you too, you have to be careful."_

"I am, Oriana." Miranda assured her sister.

Oriana nodded and then smiled mischievous, _"So, you're back with Commander Shepard sis."_

"Yes." She said with an impassive face and tone.

_"So how is it?"_ The younger sister smirked.

Miranda knew that Oriana loved pushing her buttons to get a rise out of her.

"It's a lot to do-" Miranda tried before she was interrupted.

Oriana had a flicker of mirth in her eyes and protested playfully, _"That's not what I meant!"_

There were a few moments of silence as the two sisters watched each other. Oriana subtly changed, appearing annoyed and finally she broke the silence and sighed, _"Considering you missed him I thought you'd be more ecstatic being with him again."_

Miranda said evenly, "It's good to see him again."

Oriana rolled her eyes, _"I'd do anything to see how you are when alone with him."_

"With everything that's going on, it's not a lot of time for private endeavors." Now she lied to her sister, and she didn't like it. She squirmed a bit in the chair.

_"What?"_ Oriana asked suspicious.

"Nothing." Miranda abruptly countered.

Oriana sighed upset, _"We're sisters, we're supposed to be able to talk about our lives."_

Miranda felt bad for closing up to her own sister. The young girl was merely trying to be part of her older sister's life and all she did in return was to shut her out. She knew Oriana would never drop the subject, and Miranda didn't like that they were arguing.

Miranda said sheepishly, "I'm sorry."

_"It's alright you got a lot on your plate."_ Oriana said evenly, although Miranda could sense that she was upset.

Miranda took a deep breath and pushed herself, _"What do you want to know?"_

Oriana's face lit up.

"Mind you, I won't tell you any private matters."

Oriana feigned seriousness, _"Are you telling me the great Miranda Lawson will actually talk about this matter."_

Miranda gave her sister a smile before they shared a giggle.

"Maybe I should go get a bottle of wine." Miranda thought out loud.

_"Drinking you under the table to spill the beans I want to do in the same room sis."_

"Noted. Ask away."

Oriana was about to speak when Miranda reacted to the door opening and hearing Shepard talking from around the corner.

"Hey Miri, what's your armor doing in the hallway and-"

Shepard rounded the corner and froze when he saw Miranda sitting at the computer doing the video-chat with her sister. Oriana was smirking on the video feed.

"Oh. I thought you were alone, am I interrupting something?"

Miranda had turned the chair to face Shepard and appeared calm, but she was flustered of being caught on the verge of gossiping with her sister about John. He was only wearing a T-shirt and some shorts having removed his armor somewhere.

"It's alright." Miranda answered and turned to the monitor to address Oriana, "I'll be back shortly."

But before the younger sister could voice her protest Miranda pressed a button to paus the conversation and minimized the window on the monitor.

Shepard smirked, "Nice seeing her under better circumstances. What were you two talking about?"

"Girl talk." Miranda rose from the chair and walked up to him.

"Right." Shepard said. "I planned on taking a shower but I can head to the crew deck instead. I'll just fetch some clothes and a towel."

"Okay, I can get you the shower items." Miranda said with a smile and disappeared into the shower room behind the officer.

Shepard walked down the stairs and retrieved a clean set of BDU's to put on later from the closet. He returned up the stairs were Miranda was waiting with a towel and shower gel.

Shepard smiled, "Awfully nice of you. Are you alright?"

Miranda handed him the items, "Yes I'm fine, I just wanted to talk to Oriana." She gave him a quick kiss. "Were's your armor?"

"I took it down to the cargo bay to have it further decontaminated." Shepard eyed the armor lying on the floor. "Maybe you should do the same."

"Can you take it down?"

"Sure I'll do that now. I'll leave all this out in the hall in the mean time." Shepard held up the pile of clothes and the towel, "And I'll grab it to shower afterwards, I won't interrupt you two, promise." Shepard smirked.

Miranda smiled, "That's considerate of you."

"Talk later?"

Miranda leaned in and captured Shepard's lips in a kiss and smiled, "I'd like that."

"Maybe you should consider a shower yourself." Shepard teased.

"I'll think about it." Miranda said with a coy smile.

Miranda helped Shepard carry out the discarded armor and they said their goodbyes and Miranda returned to the office and sat down at the computer. She tapped the keyboard and activated the chat again. Oriana was still sitting at her own table, but was engrossed in a hard copy book of some sorts.

"Hi again." Miranda said.

Oriana heard the voice through her own computer and put away the book and glanced at Miranda and smirked_, "So, I'm not even allowed to talk to him? Afraid I'll embarrass you?"_

"I don't think he was presentable for a conversation."

_"Oh, I didn't notice."_ Oriana said with a sly smile. She tapped her finger on her chin and pretended to be deep in thought, _"What were we gonna talk about again? Ah yes…you, dear sister, and the Commander."_

Miranda sighed, "Yes, and I know I'll regret it."

"_Now sis, don't be like that. It'll be fun."_ Oriana continued her teasing and crossed her arms.

"For whom?" Miranda was skeptical.

"_It could be for both of us. Well, how did you two end up together?"_

Miranda was silent for a few moments. She hadn't talked much about the suicide mission; she didn't really know how to begin. Her mind flashed back to the Lazarus Project, rebuilding Shepard was an enormous undertaking. Miranda had detached and coldly carried out the mission, as a Cerberus loyalist she had brought up the idea to implant Shepard with a control chip, something that the Illusive Man had shot down. A knot tied up in her stomach at the thought of carrying out something so horrible against him merely to assert control over him. She still felt guilty over it.

She began slowly, "We both were part of the mission last year..."

"_You never really told me anything about it."_ Oriana pointed out.

"And I won't. But I joined Cerberus almost two decades ago so you could be kept safe from Father, you know this already." Miranda sighed and continued, "John had been…recruited to lead the mission, and I was his executive officer. I had never really given any thought to personal relations; it only interfered with my position in Cerberus when I worked for them. In the past I carried out projects detached and without personal investment."

"_That seems…cold."_ Oriana carefully said.

"I was. Anyway, John…" Miranda smiled and chuckled, "have this annoying habit of getting to know people under his command, talking to them. He pestered me quite often. We talked about Cerberus but then he began asking questions about me, as a person. It was…different, no one had really done that in the past. And for starters I wasn't very forthcoming, but eventually I warmed up."

"_Pestering you?"_ Oriana asked coyly, _"I think a lot of women would enjoy being 'pestered' by Commander Shepard."_

"Ori!" Miranda exclaimed annoyed, her cheeks turning red.

Oriana began laughing, _"I'm only teasing!"_

Miranda sighed, "I can shut down the connection."

"_No!"_ Oriana protested and smirked, _"I'll try and behave."_

Miranda snorted, "I doubt that."

"_So how did it all change?"_ Another coy smile graced Oriana's face.

"After about a month and a half there was…a change. I wanted to understand him, he was different than most. I watched him closely, and not because of the mission. Eventually there was some flirting and teasing back and forth."

Oriana smirked mischievously as Miranda talked.

Miranda refrained from scolding her younger sister; she knew it would change nothing. She confessed to herself that it actually felt good talking about them for once.

"You remember Illium?"

_"Yes of course."_

After leaving the Normandy, Miranda had told Oriana about the events that unfolded that day. How Shepard had helped Miranda securing her sister and her family's departure from Illium, but never gave away any meaningful details.

"We were two months into the mission and I desperatley needed his help, he didn't _need_ to help me, but he did. He basically picked up his rifle and said _'let's go'_. I was part of the crew and he helped me without hesitation. I think I can safely say that if not for John, and his closest friend that he took along, things might have turned out very different."

Miranda hadn't been too happy about Garrus accompanying them. That he would know of her most personal secret made her very uncomfortable. But Shepard had insisted on bringing at least one more with them, never knowing what they would encounter, and he promised that Garrus would not only keep quiet about it, but also that he could be trusted with the task as well.

Oriana hesitated and her posture changed from teasing to one of contemplation, _"Oh."_ It was all she said as Miranda's word sunk in.

"I can honestly say that things would have played out very different in both our lives if not John had helped me that day, if he hadn't entered my life." Miranda flashed a heartfelt smile. "Hours after returning to the Normandy...I didn't know what to think or feel. His mere presence was...I don't know. Whatever was brewing right up until that point suddenly exploded, I had emotions in me I never thought I had. I needed to see him."

This time Oriana smirked, _"I see, interesting. Do tell."_

Miranda chuckled lightly, "I think not, but I can tell you that our relationship changed quite a lot that night. For the better."

Oriana nodded and was a lot more serious despite what Miranda alluded to, _"A lot makes sense now since Illium."_

"I guess."

_"So...do you love him?" _Oriana smirked again as she observed Miranda.

Miranda's eyes shot up in genuine surprise, Oriana's question was unexpected and Miranda didn't know what to say. She had no idea what she felt. All the emotions shooting through her was foreign; she had never loved anyone before let alone been in a actual relationship. She had even scoured the extranet for any information about love, thinking her intelligence and sophisticated mind could find the answers. She knew it was silly, and she didn't find anything that could help her. All she found was romanticized ramblings, nothing that was grounded in reality.

She cared a lot about John, and she had begun to suspect that he loved her. Although he had never said it out loud, but when he told her a few days ago that he always wanted her in his life, she suspected that he truly did love her. And she had instead acted coy, teasing him, but privately she had welcomed his small declaration, though she had no idea what to do. But Miranda couldn't deny that there was an obstacle to overcome, she had never told him about her condition, and she was unsure how he would react. In the end he could leave her, or not. Miranda didn't know what to do.

Eventually Miranda replied, she didn't want to lie, "I...I don't know Ori." Miranda sighed.

Oriana had a quizzical look and a eyebrow rose up, _"You don't know?"_

Miranda shook her head and diverted her eyes to the keyboard instead.

_"Uhm...okay?"_ Was all Oriana could say. She clearly didn't expect that answer.

"It's...complicated."

_"How so?"_

Miranda looked up at the video feed and tried to calmly talk but began rambling instead. "Well, I...just haven't loved anyone before- Or been- " Miranda became evasive, "I don't know were to- Let's talk about-" Miranda took a deep nervous breath, "It's late, I need to go."

Before Miranda could do anything else Oriana shot back in a stern voice, _"No, you won't go anywhere."_

Miranda squirmed in the chair, she didn't like feeling so exposed, even to her own sister. Which she knew was silly because Oriana loved her.

Miranda took a deep breath to calm down, "All this is still pretty new to me."

_"As I begin to understand."_ Oriana said with a hint of concern in her voice.

There was an uncomfortable silence between the two.

Once again Oriana was the one to talk first,_ "I can't say that I know him, although I'm interested in getting to know him-"_

Miranda smiled at that, she wanted nothing more than for those two to learn to know each other. Although knowing both of them, they would probably pester her constantly.

_"-but I think I can say that the way he looked at you before means that he thinks the world of you, he probably even loves you."_

"Maybe." Miranda confessed. "But I think you know more about this then I do." Despite her intelligence and supposed perfection all this was new territory.

_"Perhaps. But is it serious between you two?"_

Miranda smiled, "Yes, I think so."

Oriana excitedly said, _"That's great Randa! It really is."_

Miranda's cheeks flushed.

_"Oh! You think so to? To think, that my sister is dating 'the' John Shepard. What was it he called you before?"_

"Miri...its...well it's a nickname from my childhood. No one but him calls me that and I like it when he does. A lot."

"_That's so romantic!"_ Oriana exclaimed. _"Well, he's a good catch Randa, I'm jealous."_

"He isn't the legend they make him out to be."

Oriana grinned and pressed for more,_ "So, how is he like?"_

Miranda sighed tiredly, "I really need to shower, so another time perhaps," but then she smirked a bit, " or maybe you can meet him yourself."

Oriana gasped in glee _"Really?!"_

Miranda smiled at her sister's response, but it faded a little when she suddenly remembered the state of the galaxy, she had happily forgotten about the Reapers and Cerberus after spending some time here with Oriana, "Well...when there's time."

Oriana drew a contemplating silent reaction as she pondered what Miranda said. She nodded, _"Yes of course. Be careful Randa."_

"I promise. I'll be in touch."

Oriana nodded, _"Of course. Bye."_

"Bye."

Miranda pressed a button and the connection was terminated.

She felt better after chatting with her sister. Oriana's carefree and happy demeanor had rubbed off on Miranda. She tried to keep the thoughts on the war away so she could have some peace and quiet now. She rose from the chair and decided to take that shower. She entered the bathroom and quickly removed her light clothing and threw them into the laundry basket in the corner. She took a look at herself in the mirror, there was a thin glint of sweat on her body, her hair was tied in a pony tail, and she looked tired.

There were some bruises here and there after the kinetic chock after being hit by rounds. Although she did suspect that John was more bruised then she was. She'd have to talk some sense into him, there was no way she'd loose him now. She walked into the shower and let the hot water pour down on her body. She felt increasingly better again, rejuvenated actually.

Eventually after a long and pleasant shower she turned off the water and used a towel to dry herself. Shen the wrapped a robe around her slim body, it was John's but he never used it so she had taken possession of it. She opened the door and stepped into the office outside and was slightly surprised to find John sitting at the computer, going through his mails for the day. He turned around in the chair and greeted her with a warm smile.

"Hey." Shepard said, clearly admiring her.

"Hey you." Miranda said, smirking.

She proceeded to walk over and sit in his lap, cupped his faced and leaned in for a kiss. Shepard reciprocated the kiss and let his arms slid around her, holding her closely.

They parted and Miranda asked, "So what have you been up to?"

Shepard shrugged, "Nothing really. Showered and went to Chakwas for a checkup."

A frown formed on Miranda's face and she spoke evenly, "You have to be more careful."

"With our line of work, a few rounds into the armor is bound to happen."

Miranda snorted, "Don't mean you can just run into fire like you did."

He dropped his head and sighed, "Yeah, you got a point."

Miranda nodded but said nothing.

Shepard looked up, "So what were you two talking about." He gave her a small smile.

Miranda shook her head, "Oriana have a similar annoying trait like you, she's very curious and asks a lot of questions."

"Oh? What about? Seems like we would get along nicely." Shepard smirked.

Miranda noded, "Oh, you would. She asked about you..."

Shepard's smirk widened and he teased, "I hope you said something good about me."

Miranda feigned arrogance but grinned, "Not really."

Shepard chuckled.

Miranda looked at him. She couldn't help wondering what things might have turned out if she'd never fallen for him. Or rather; what would have happened if she'd been allowed to implant him with a control chip. The man in front of her could very well be the one the war effort rested on. John was on the way to save the galaxy for the third time; although last year was probably very unofficial.

What if he had listened to her when she had advised him to turn over Legion to Cerberus? What if he had convinced Mordin to destroy the cure? The genophage could be their saving grace at the moment. If John had been implanted with that chip, it could have had very dire consequences for the galaxy. What if she had been in his shoes back then? She couldn't help to wonder that if anyone else had been in John place, the galaxy could be doomed by now. At the moment the galaxy was only close to destruction. If she hadn't fallen for him, or at least hadn't had her eyes opened by him or never felt any loyalty to John Shepard, she could have been one of the many high-level Cerberus operatives that were implanted with Reaper tech only to blindly obey the Illusive Man. The man she'd gladly carried out any mission she was handed during her Cerberus career showed his true colors last year. Right now, Miranda could have been indoctrinated.

After a few moments she felt John's hand on her cheek that turned her head slightly to look into those blue eyes that looked on her with concern.

"Something wrong Miri?"

_'Miri'?_ She'd never thought anyone would ever call her that again. Niket had called her that when they were children, and the only one ever doing so. And when he died in the hands of that asari bitch Miranda had never thought she'd hear that nickname again. Believing she would never want to hear those words again. She remembered when John had slipped and called her that one evening in her quarters a few weeks into their relationship. He'd looked so shocked, believing that he had done something terribly wrong. She would have thought that as well, thinking it would bring up memories from her past. But hearing _'Miri' _coming from him only made her smile, she'd welcomed it and assured him that he could call her that. She loved hearing him call her that.

_Love?_ That word again. She didn't know what to do with that.

"It's nothing." She said without thinking. But she knew better then to believe that John would drop it, he knew her to well. He didn't accept being locked out of her life. And she didn't want it any other way.

"You look...sad. Unhappy."

"I have a lot of things on my mind." She confessed.

"You can talk to me."

She nodded, but was still unsure about a lot of those things. "Well...I need to confess, I need to tell you something."

Shepard said nothing and only watched her with greater concern.

Miranda sighed, "When I ran the Lazarus Project I wanted to implant you with a control ship - as a safeguard - but the Illusive Man didn't want me to do that. He didn't want to alter you in anyway."

Shepard nodded slightly, "Do you remember when we first met?"

Miranda looked up on him, "Yes?"

"Not when we were gunning through that station, but after I talked to the Illusive Man for the first time. You told me about that chip." Shepard chuckled, "You also told me you didn't want a friend."

Miranda couldn't help to smile at that last part. How wrong she'd been.

Shepard smiled back, "Considering were you and I are now, I think I've let that one slide. Is that what's been on your mind?"

"Among other things."

Shepard contemplated, "It would have saved him a lot of trouble if he had allowed it. And I was a complete unknown at the time."

"Probably. But he didn't want something that just obeyed orders. A chip like that could have turned you into a lesser man."

"Miri, when I died I lost two years of my life, I could have lost it all, but you brought me back and gave me back the rest of my life. Yes, you could have changed me in more ways than one, but you didn't." Shepard told her reassuringly.

"Yes, but think of everything else!" Her voice was full of emotion, "What if you had listened to my suggestions as a Cerberus operative? There were a few questionable ones even after we got closer. We shouldn't even be together John!" Miranda's head dropped and she whispered, "We could very well have been enemies now, I could have been an indoctrinated tool by now if everything had been any different."

John had saved her in more ways than one. He'd saved her from falling to her death on the collapsing platform in the Collector base, and he'd saved her from Cerberus. A part of her felt that she didn't deserve all this good that had happened in her life since meeting him.

Miranda continued, "I fought my father's narcissistic needs to control me but I didn't give a second thought to restrict your free will." Miranda sighed, "I just want you to know that I regret wanting that chip."

Once again Shepard let his hand touch her cheek and he brought up her slumped head so they could look into each other's eyes. Miranda's eyes were almost to the brink of tears, and Shepard looked at her with concern and something else she couldn't figure out.

"I love you Miranda." He said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Miranda couldn't believe what she just heard. For a moment anger flashed by, she instinctively thought that he had listened into her conversation with Oriana, or if Oriana had contacted him. But that line of thought disappeared quickly. It was absurd to believe something like that. She sat in silence looking into his eyes, but said nothing. Miranda just didn't know what to do. To hear him say it was something very different than suspecting that he loved her. Her otherwise lightning fast mind needed to process all this new information and it took a little longer than expected. She noticed that Shepard's body became stiffer, he appeared flustered, uncomfortable. She quickly came to terms that he clearly misread her silence. He removed his hand from her cheek and defensively began to lean away from her.

"I'm sorry I-" Shepard began rambling.

"No!" Miranda said and took his hand in hers and intertwined their fingers. She smiled at him, trying to reassure him, she didn't want him to believe that he had done anything hasty or misplaced any trust. Her engineered condition flashed by her eyes and she made a decision. Although it tore her a part not being able to respond in kind to Shepard's words as she could see that her silence worried him and it broke her heart seeing him like this. But She needed to tell him the truth before she could say anything else.

"John I-" She began but was quickly interrupted by Shepard.

"You don't need to say anything, I just-"

"No, be quiet." She said with the last ounces of control she had left as her body was trembling and small tears ran down her cheeks, her voice was breaking with emotion. She brought herself closer to him and he leaned in towards her again.

Miranda took a deep breath, she decided that she had tormented him enough, "I love you too John."

Shepard smiled at her and she smiled back. She felt him ease down from his previous frightened stance.

Miranda again said, "I love you." There was a slight pause but a few moments later she continued, "I'm sorry what I just put you through, but I'm sterile, John. We can never have a family." She gauged Shepard for a reaction.

Shepard looked at her, the smile disappeared but his eyes didn't change, they were still the same blue irises filled with love for her. A million things raced through her mind; she was scared he would pull away, that he regretted his words, that he-

Shepard's voice was brimming with emotions, "I love you Miri, and nothing can change that. You are the person I care for most in my life, and if there is anything you need I won't be far away."

Miranda couldn't help but smile even more at his words and leaned in to kiss Shepard.

They parted and Shepard said reassuringly, "At the moment things are a bit uncertain, but we can worry about children in the future."

"Doctors at Illium have already said that there's nothing that can be done." Miranda spat out in disgust.

Shepard gave her a reassuring smile, "But I know this quirky salarian professor-"

For the first time Miranda began laughing a little.

Shepard smiled at the sound of her laughter, "-and I think he'd love to look into this. And then we have you, this amazing woman who brought me back from the dead."

Miranda sighed, "What if we can't fix this?"

Shepard removed a stray lock of hair from her face, "Then we figure something else out. All I want is to be by your side, I'm not leaving it again, and you and I can overcome anything together."

Miranda shook her head but still smiled, "Damn you John. Look what you did to me." She cleared her throat and wiped away a few more tears.

"Sorry, didn't think it through."

Miranda grinned "You never do."

Miranda gently cupped Shepard's face and leaned in and kissed him. Passion began to take control over her, all the dreaded feelings disappeared as they continued to deepen the kiss and Shepard moaned contently.

When Miranda felt his hands find its way under the robe, caressing her naked skin and traveling just underneath her breasts, she parted and smirked, "Oh, still impatient _Commander_?"

Shepard teased, "Still trying to remain in control Ms. Lawson?"

"Trying…but failing." Her arms rested on his shoulders. Miranda's body and desires screamed for him. She needed him to hold her in his embrace; she needed him in her life reassuring her that everything would be fine. That there were no Reapers out there, that there was only John and Miranda.

Shepard grinned, "Good, cause after confessing my undying love for you I'm running out of moves."

Miranda smiled seductively, "I'm not."

* * *

**_Half a quote from Burn Notice._**

**_Quote from Forrest Gump._**

**_Edited (2012-10-04): Some changes.  
_**

**_Chapter name taken from the romance-track from Mass Effect 2.  
_**


	19. Love & Loss

_**Edited (2012-11-03): I added a new scene that takes place during the celebration. You can also scroll down to the author's notes to read my thoughts on that subject and why it was added.**_

* * *

Miranda slowly woke up to the streaming water in the fish tank and the slight humming of the engine. She felt rested and stretched drowsily on her side of the bed next to Shepard. She turned to gaze at him sleeping and she glowed with happiness. After their 'confessions' the night before, Miranda felt ecstatic. A lot of weight on her shoulders was gone but more importantly the two of them had evolved their relationship and she had never felt as good as she did now being with him. She felt more at ease with him now than ever before.

But it had never been any kind of immature love at first sight or any kind of blind affection between the two. As with any mature relationship between two adults, there were issues and troubles that had to be dealt with, and considering the uncertainties of the war and the lives they led it could be over in a heartbeat. But she didn't regret a thing.

Miranda looked at the clock on the night stand. It was a little over 7 on the morning. They had slept surprisingly long. Luckily they were in transit to the Citadel and there were not many pressing duties at the moment. She moved closer to Shepard, thinking that it was time for him to wake up. She lied down next to him and gave him a soft kiss on his lips as she took in his scent.

Shepard slowly woke up and opened his eyes tiredly but soon smiled up at her when he saw Miranda.

"Morning sleepy head." She said with a heartwarming smile.

"Good morning yourself." Shepard smirked and kissed her.

"I can't resist waking you." Miranda said and couldn't stop smiling. "Every time I do you look at me as if you hadn't seen me in years."

Shepard pondered her last words. "Well, it is almost true, isn't?" He moved away a lock of hair from her face behind her ear and gave her another kiss.

They parted and Miranda rested her head on his shoulders and moved her arm around his torso and hugged him closer.

He stretched tiredly as much as he possible could with Miranda hugging him, "What time is it?"

"Sevenish." She answered drowsily. She could feel him move his arm a bit which ended up on her lower back and his fingertips began caressing her bare skin. It was a wonderful sensation. He placed his other hand on top of hers. She hummed contently. It was here she belonged and Miranda felt all anxieties flow away.

"Last night was amazing" Shepard grinned.

Miranda chuckled and turned to look into his eyes. "God, yes it was John." She'd been exhausted after fighting through Omega, and the last thing she had on her mind last night was sex, but after what they had said to each other she wanted nothing but Shepard, he always stirred something lustful in her.

Miranda smiled warmly before she took on a more serious look and said, "I can't believe I actually told you about my condition."

"You thought that I would leave you?"

Miranda took a deep breath, "Yes I did actually."

Shepard pulled her closer and kissed her forehead, "Well, I won't."

Miranda smiled and kissed him gently on his lips, "I begin to understand that know." _Damn it,_ _what have I ever done to deserve him?_

"So what are your plans for today?"

"I need to write a mission report and send it off." She gave him a mock-glare, "In your name I might add."

Shepard feigned seriousness and teased, "Okay, you know that's not literature, you just keep it simple. Try writing it in first person, plural you know, say we a lot."

Miranda scoffed a bit, "It's not the first time I'm writing a report you know."

Shepard chuckled, "Glad to hear."

* * *

The day progressed with not much happening. On the morning Shepard reported to Admiral Hackett and gave the Admiral a brief statement on the events and the aftermath, as well as forwarding the vast amount of information that had been recovered. Hackett was unsure about an alliance with Aria T'Loak but recognized that the mercenary forces could be valuable for the war effort. Liara would continue sifting through the Cerberus data, but she would have needed her old server farm to be able to crack through the encryption in short order. Now it could very well take a couple of weeks. No one believed that they would find anything noteworthy regarding Cerberus with the exception of that specific cell.

To keep the crew occupied with more than the day-to-day business, Shepard had Vega held an exercise program in the cargo bay, the crew was split up in several groups so they could still keep a presence in the CIC and in other important areas. The team's resident marksmen, Garrus and Zaeed, had been bragging the entire morning about who was the better marksman. They decided to have a competition in the cargo bay with non-lethal rounds but Shepard thought this was stupid as the cargo bay was to cramped for any long-range shooting and ordered the two not to discharge any weapons on his ship. The two conceded but decided between themselves to resolve the issue another day somewhere else.

On the day after their successful mission against Cerberus, Shepard had issued a _'general order' _for the crew to celebrate their victory later that evening, which was well received. His intentions were also to take peoples minds of the war. And considering they still had a few days of travel before reaching the Citadel Shepard figured some well deserved down time wouldn't hurt.

Shepard hadn't participated very long during the festivities that had been held at the Port Observation room. He had played some Texas hold'em with Zaeed, Joker and Vega before retiring to his quarters for a quiet evening with Miranda with some light music and a glass of wine or two.

But the party continued on in Shepard's absence with club music blaring out of the speakers. The off-duty crew celebrated their latest victory and took the opportunity with the long transit time to get more intoxicated then they generally would have been able to. And Joker was hailed for attacking the Cerberus fleet on and prevailed, and he took the opportunity to bask in the lime-light in his drunken haze. EDI was more than capable to man and oversee the Normandy for the duration their pilot would be _'out of action'_ because of overconsumption of alcohol.

Shouting and dancing occurred across the room and a few crew members was having a drinking contest; who could swipe down the most shots would win the bet, a sizable amount of credits was at stake. Eventually those that had too much alcohol passed out and was carried to their bunks and eventually even those from Shepard's team that attended and the officers left the lounge. Leaving a few of the less intoxicated marines to have a few light drinks and some casual conversation around the couches.

Traynor, who had only had a few drinks that night, decided she had enough fun for one night and excused herself. Leaving the two War Room guards, Privates Westmoreland and Campbell, and a few other marines alone for the night. They watched the blue-shifted contrails of FTL throughout the observation window.

Westmoreland stretched tiredly in the couch, taking in the view, "This is pretty nice actually."

One of the male marines quipped from the opposite couch, "Yeah, you know what else is nice? That scantily clad XO - or whatever her title is - Man!"

One of the other male marines chuckled, "Yeah, you got that right Jones."

Westmoreland snorted derisively, "Men."

"Ah, come on!" Jones exclaimed slightly defensive, "Even Samantha has been eyeing her up." He tilted his head at the door.

"The woman could have a better attitude though." Corporal Morris contemplated who sat next to the two War Room guards.

"Well, you got into her sights so you had that coming." Jones teased.

"Please, she's not a people person." Campbell said annoyed.

"You know." Westmoreland began exasperated, "Her looks clearly shows that's a distraction for you men for not noticing she's Goddamn Cerberus!"

"Former, the Commander says." Jones interjected.

"What, you believe that?" Westmoreland asked annoyed.

"Well, in all seriousness, it's Commander Shepard we're talking about. Should we really question him?" The marine next to Jones asked.

"Exactly. Thank you Dieter." Jones said in over-the-top cordiality.

Dieter chuckled lightly

"So he is never wrong? What about all that business being incarcerated? The batarians? And that he worked with Cerberus?" Westmoreland asked agitated.

"Getting the job done?" Jones asked rhetorically.

Campbell snorted, "I agree with Beth, it seems the Commander has some extreme ways of doing business. And his choice in team members shows that. No one but he and Lieutenant Vega are Alliance."

"Maybe it's required as, I don't know, being a SPECTRE?" Dieter stated sarcastically.

"What about T'soni and Vakarian?" Morris asked looking at Campbell. "They're not Alliance either."

"They took down Saren with the Commander. I have no problems with them, we know who they are. We don't know who this Australian is regardless of Vakarian's previous stories." Campbell responded evenly.

"But apparently the Commander trusts the XO." Jones said.

"Don't call her XO, she's not Alliance, it's insulting. You want to know why the Commander trusts that aussie? She spreads her legs. That's why." Westmoreland countered dismissive.

"I don't think the Commander is that shallow of a person." Dieter responded, not clearly liking how the two females were talking about their commanding officer.

Campbell scoffed, "What? You know him suddenly? You two are star-struck by the Commander. And I doubt they're in a real relationship."

Jones shook his head exasperated and smirked, "What, you haven't seen the looks they have given each other around the ship? They're practically drooling over each other."

"She's clearly manipulating him for her own needs." Campbell stated aggravated.

"We don't know them, or the situation, so we shouldn't jump to baseless conclusions." Dieter said.

Campbell snorted and rolled her eyes.

"Well, apparently the Commander and his squad know what they're doing. And the XO probably have more skills then sex if the stories that have been told are any indication." Jones pointed out.

Morris sighed and stood up, "Ugh! I'm too drunk for having another discussion about all this. I'm heading to my bunk. You have fun kids."

"What, you don't have an opinion on this Corporal?" Campbell asked and looked up at him.

Morris shrugged, "I think we should support the Commander in his mission. We got more important things to worry about then who he is in bed with or not." With that the Corporal brushed past the others and left the lounge.

Campbell snorted, "They're probably doing it right now. The Commander is just thinking with his other head. It could lead to dire consequences for the mission."

Jones frowned a bit, "What the Commander does on his spare time is none of our concern. Even we are allowed to do as we see fit during the off-hours just as long as we're doing our duty. The Commander is certainly doing his for the mission. He knows what's at stake."

"She doesn't belong onboard." Westmoreland said and looked directly at Jones and Dieter, "And I can't understand why you two are defending the Commander?"

"Hey, I'm just saying that the reputation the Commander has, I think we should give him some slack just as the Corporal says." Jones said.

"She's Cerberus. Can she really be trusted?" Campbell argued next. "I can only imagine the sick things she has done in the past. You know that Cerberus is suspected to be behind Admiral Kahoku's death right? I bet she was part of that."

"That's just baseless speculation Sarah." Dieter argued.

"Have you seen that scary looking merc? I bet he has done some crazy stuff during the years. I'm just saying that the Commander probably knows what he's doing in regard to who he works with."

"And then he recruits the help of a bunch of mercenaries and that Aria T'Loak." Westmoreland argued. "What will that get us?"

"Exactly, he works with criminals, mercenaries and Cerberus. It doesn't sit right." Campbell agreed.

Dieter shrugged, "Everyone's threatened by the Reapers."

"No one is a saint, you know. It's that simple." Jones said.

Dieter asked curiously. "If it's such a problem, why don't either of you take it up to Alliance Command instead of gossiping about it?"

Both Campbell and Westmoreland turned sheepishly quiet.

"That's right." Dieter said smugly, "You still want to serve onboard the Normandy and not get on the Commander's bad side for disrespecting him."

"If we survive the war it'll look good on the service record being here." Campbell said evenly.

"Uh-huh? And it has nothing to do with that Commander Shepard is a SPECTRE and can carry out the mission he sees fit I presume?"

"And the Commander was doubted by both the Council and the Alliance ever since Sovereign attacked all those years ago. He was always saying the Reapers would return but no one listened and he was downplayed and now they are here. I for one trust him." Jones sternly argued.

Dieter nodded, "Me too. If the Commander trusts her I see no problem."

Westmoreland shook her head, "Whatever. Maybe Samantha and the Corporal had it right; it's time to get some shut eye."

"The best idea that come out of all this." Jones agreed and stood up and soon the marines left the lounge for the sleeping quarters.

* * *

The morning on the following day was calm and quiet as most of the crew was still out of action since the night before.

Shepard exited the elevator on the crew deck and headed for the kitchen to make some breakfast. Miranda was still in their quarters, finishing getting dressed, and would join him later. Shepard spent ten minutes readying his meal with various assortments of food, fruit and beverages. He ended up at one of the tables, the one that had been dubbed the _'officers table' _behind the wall, and slowly started to eat his food.

The minutes ticked by as he was reading his datapad he had placed on the table. He had decided to read Miranda's report she had compiled yesterday and sent off to Alliance Command, Shepard was curious what _'he'_ had written. A familiar slim body in a white and black suit sat down in front of him with a tray of breakfast and smiled at him.

"Mind if I join you, _Commander_?" Miranda teased.

Shepard smiled back, "Not at all _Ms. Lawson_." He took a sip from his glass of juice.

"What are you reading?" Miranda asked curiously and eyed all the text on the datapad.

Shepard smirked, "Oh that? Nothing, just '_my'_ mission report to Command."

Miranda snorted, "Maybe I won't be that generous next time."

"Well, I appreciate it. Although it's not necessary as I do give a spoken brief now and then."

Miranda frowned a bit, "Yes, it is necessary. Alliance protocol states that it's expected by any mission commander to turn in a written report after every mission. Or did you forget to do that after I wrote all last year?"

"Ah but I wasn't with the Alliance last year." Shepard flashed a smile before he took a bite of his sandwich.

Miranda took a sip of her water and nodded, "That might be correct, but I seem to recall that you did write reports after every mission hunting Saren. During Lazarus I read them all."

Shepard nodded, "All teasing a side, I appreciate you taking over as XO and all that comes with it."

Miranda grinned, "No problem. It keeps me occupied. It's also refreshing not have to report every second like it was with Cerberus. Or it felt like I had to at least."

"So being with the Alliance, no matter how unofficial and under the radar, isn't that bad I take it."

Miranda smirked and leaned into her chair with the glass of water in hand and admired the _'view'_, "Definitely not. There are quite a few perks. Not all my dealings with the Alliance have been bad." She gave him a wink and took a sip of water.

Shepard smiled, "Good to hear."

Miranda's subtle flirting was interrupted when Chakwas cleared he throat stopping at the end of the table with a tray.

"Can I join you two for breakfast?"

Shepard smiled at their resident physician, "Of course." He glanced on Miranda to gauge her reaction but she didn't seem to mind. Shepard had become increasingly efficient on reading Miranda's body language and other small mannerisms.

Chakwas walked around Shepard and took a seat next to him.

"I got to say Commander, it was a great idea to have the crew unwind last night and celebrate a new victory."

"Well, there isn't that much to do during transit and I figured they could have some fun."

"For you maybe there isn't much to do but for the rest of us there is." Miranda said dryly and dug into her breakfast.

"Thank you." Shepard said sarcastically and smirked.

"So how's your injuries Commander?" Chakwas inquired after a spoon of porridge.

Shepard shrugged, "The scars are healing fine and the bruises have all but diminished. There's still some aching but nothing major."

Chakwas nodded and turned to Miranda, "I guess everything's fine with you Ms. Lawson? You never showed up for an examination."

"I'm fine; I know how to duck from incoming fire." Miranda glanced at Shepard with an dismissive look on her.

"It seems you can learn a thing or two from our XO, Commander." Chakwas teased with a professional tone.

Shepard shook his head and asked perplexed to no one in particular, "What have I done now?"

Miranda smirked at Shepard's inconvenience before she focused on her breakfast.

From the end of the table they heard a female English accent, "Can I take a seat?"

The trio turned and saw Traynor standing near the table with a tray in hand.

"By all means." Shepard replied.

Traynor nodded and took a seat next to Miranda. "As the crew is still out cold it would be rather lonely at the other table."

Shepard chuckled, "Relax Traynor, this table is not reserved to anyone."

"Of course Commander." Traynor replied with a slight smile.

"I had a lovely conversation with Garrus last night." Chakwas interrupted.

"Oh?" Shepard looked up from his breakfast.

"Yes, it's great to have him back again. I offered to remove those scars, but he declined. I think he rather likes them."

Shepard smirked and quipped, "Well, as ugly as he is it gives him some personality."

Miranda coughed as she almost choked on her food when she heard Shepard's comment about his friend. She quickly took a sip of water from her glass while Shepard glanced at her with a widened smirk.

Chakwas protested playfully, "Shepard! That's not very nice of you."

"That you would talk about your friend like that baffles me." Traynor said and chuckled.

"What? It's true," Shepard jibed before he cleared his throat and changed subject. "So eh, Specialist? Have you adapted to life onboard a starship?"

"Oh, I'm still getting used to it. It was...interesting to be in combat for the first time, it was intense up here. We didn't really do anything while in the turian system last week. I can now understand were Joker's reputation comes from; he blasted his way through that Cerberus fleet while the rest of us was secured in our harnesses."

Shepard grinned, "He's good, but we try not and advertise that. He's got enough ego as it is."

"Like you don't?" Miranda asked deadpanned.

Both Chakwas and Traynor shared a giggle on Shepard's expense who merely rolled his eyes.

Traynor shrugged, "Other than that it's not that bad. It's a little cramped though. When we got to the Citadel for the first time I didn't even had a toothbrush with me until I did some quick shopping there."

"Hey, if you need anything just ask Cortez, because we'll do some inventory before we hit the Citadel and pick up whatever we need."

"Oh, I think you have more pressing concerns then me missing some personal items."

"You can put in a requisition order."

Traynor scratched her neck before she fiddled with her fingers nervously, "Well, it's a Cision Pro Mark 4 toothbrush I usually use, it uses tiny mass effect fields to remove plaques and massage the gums." She cleared he throat and whispered, "It costs 6000 credits."

Shepard stared at Traynor with a open mouth and a surprised expression, "Uh, yeah... you're on your own with that one."

Miranda chuckled at Shepard, "I got one of those. I agree it's really great for the gums."

Shepard turned to Miranda and exclaimed surprised, "Jesus woman! 6 kay?!"

Miranda grinned, "I told you my tastes are above your pay grade."

"What's wrong with a regular old toothbrush?" Shepard muttered.

"A lot Commander." Traynor teased with a chuckle.

"Yes I agree." Miranda explained, "But you don't seem to have problems paying thousands of credits for weapons and mods."

"Hey!" Shepard said defensively, "Those things have a purpose."

Miranda shrugged, "So does a toothbrush."

"Not for 6000." Shepard muttered again.

Miranda turned to Traynor, "Considering the current state of affairs, I'm rather surprised that you are concerned about a toothbrush."

"Seeing Earth being attacked was horrific Ms. Lawson. I won't be much use to anyone if I burst into tears on the CIC so being part on the Normandy aiding the war effort helps a lot." She glanced at Shepard, "And I think that the Commander is our best hope for beating the Reapers."

Shepard interjected before Miranda could come up with a clever retort, "It's thanks to a great team and crew, I couldn't have done much without help."

"And you remember that Commander." Miranda said with a hint of mirth in her eyes.

* * *

After breakfast Shepard took the elevator up to the CIC and strolled through processing to the War Room and continued towards the QEC Room.

"EDI, connect me to Primarch Victus."

_"Of course Shepard. Stand by."_

Shepard stopped at the QEC and waited for the connection. A few moments later the QEC turned on and Victus was visible.

_"Commander Shepard, it's good to see you again. Garrus told me in a message that the mission was a success."_

Shepard nodded, "It was sir. We got some juicy intelligence we're deciphering, but if it will reveal anything noteworthy is still debatable. We'll have solid intel on their operations at Omega, but other than that we don't believe we will have anything on other cells or their command structure."

_"Well, it seems you disrupted their operations there so congratulations. So Aria T'Loak is with us now?"_

"Yeah, she'll pledge her forces for the war."

_"Interesting turn of events and an interesting ally. You sure about this?"_

"Well, she'll be good to have on our side and she'll be committed during the war. But after? That remains to be seen, but we can't be picky, we need everything we can throw at the Reapers. There will always be mercenaries around."

Victus nodded, _"I understand."_

"Have we gotten anywhere regarding the summit?"

_"Ah yes. After a lot of bickering we have finalized everything. First the salarians suggested we meet on one of their colony worlds out of reach from the war, but Urdnot Wrex balked at that idea. So I suggested we meet onboard the Normandy. Solid neutral ground. It was accepted by everyone."_

"Good. We will be at the Citadel tomorrow sir and we'll pick you up."

_"Great Commander, I'll give you the coordinates to the rendezvous point with the salarians and krogans tomorrow."_

"Sounds good sir. We will see you soon."

_"Right. Victus out."_

* * *

Miranda was walking up the stairs to the office. Several days of transit between relays were at times tedious and boring when there wasn't much to do around the ship as everything was working fine. With less than two hours away from the Citadel, Miranda was happy to return to the civilized parts of space.

Miranda sat down at the office desk, she wore one of John's white t-shirts adorned with a N7 Special Forces logo and his class emblem from 2179, it was several sizes too large for her, but she knew he always got a kick out if when she wore something of his. Miranda logged onto the computer but instead of using her own account she proceeded to log on to John's instead. A small part of her felt a little guilty about it, but she couldn't help to snoop around in his files, search history and mails. John didn't care too much about it and had even written down his password for her on a post-it note. That he had actually parted with his password Miranda found hilarious, and at least it wasn't her name he used as password. That would have annoyed her a little too much.

But what annoyed her was John's background image on the operating system, it was of her. A photograph he had taken which she hadn't noticed when he did. It was a spur of the moment photo in which she looked comfortable and relaxed while she was sitting with crossed legs on a couch below and reading a book. It had been taken sometime last year. She sighed and quickly started the mail program, dozens of new e-mails was in his inbox and she sated her curiosity to review them. A handful was of official matter or news reports which didn't pique her interest. But there were a few that caught her attention. One was from Thane Krios. John had told her he had met him on Huerta undergoing treatment for his illness, but that he seemed to be in high spirits regardless. Miranda decided not to read that one; it was a little too personal for her to intrude on.

There was also a message from Aria T'Loak which Miranda instantaneously read. Apparently her mercenary forces had cleared much of Omega and had begun to fly in aid for the populace. The last bit of information surprised Miranda a bit, but she figured even a criminal could have moments of ethical value for others. T'Loak also informed that she'd sent a recon party past the Omega 4 relay after several days of her ships lying in wait around it to intercept any Cerberus ships that tried to escape from their research station. Apparently the Cerberus station beyond Omega 4 had been destroyed with all its personnel. Most likely a self-destruct device had been triggered either on site or from somewhere else.

Miranda continued her browsing and the next mail not only piqued her interest more, but also anger as well. It was from Ashley Williams. Jealousy and annoyance took over and she clicked on it. She was not too keen on John still keeping in touch with his ex. She had merely met the woman briefly on Horizon, and her entire persona and attitude irked Miranda. What Shepard had fallen for in that woman she couldn't fathom. Miranda began to read the message. Apparently she had accepted to be inducted into the SPECTREs and that the formal ceremony would be held next week. Other than that the Williams woman was up on her feet but was still hospitalized and wanted to meet with John next time he was on the Citadel.

_Stay away from him!_ Miranda angrily thought before she sighed. She had made a conscious decision not become a girlfriend that would tell John who to be friends with. It wasn't something she wanted to intrude on. He could be friends with whoever he wanted to, and he had told her that he wanted no one but her and she did believe him. But she still wasn't happy that every woman in the galaxy was fawning over him. Especially when it was an ex-girlfriend.

And then there was Tali, who had a major crush on John since hunting Saren. Miranda remembered that John had told her that Tali was a little too naive for his liking and that he only saw her as a friend. But Miranda was still not too enthusiastic about Tali, but she knew those feelings were unanswered by John and more importantly Miranda wasn't jealous at the young quarian whose feelings stemmed from adoration and hero worshipping. Plus Miranda was well aware of Shepard's preferences and Tali didn't fit any of them, neither in personality nor physical appearance considering those knees and feet.

Miranda also knew that Liara had a thing for John after she had been recruited while chasing Saren, finding him alluring. But he had gone off with Williams instead. But Miranda liked Liara so she had no problems with her and it seemed as if Liara had gotten over John which was all the better for Miranda.

_Stop it! __He's with you and no one else._ Miranda smiled at that notion.

"What's up?"

Miranda almost jumped out of the chair when she heard Shepard's voice from behind her. She turned around the chair and rose up.

"John!" She cried out annoyed and slapped him on the shoulder. "Don't scare me like that!"

Shepard chuckled as he rubbed his shoulder, "Sorry. You seemed deep in thought."

Miranda crossed her arms and glared at Shepard who had stepped out of the bathroom without her noticing it. He had finished up a shower wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. His body was still damped by water, it was quite an arousing and pleasing view for Miranda who let her eyes roam his body as her glare turned into a desire and she smiled sensually instead.

Shepard grinned, "Found something you enjoy?" He stopped rubbing his shoulder.

"Mmm, I certainly did." Miranda purred.

Shepard peeked around her on the monitor on the desk, "Were you snooping around on my account as usually?"

"You know I do." She said still admiring Shepard.

"Found something juicy?" Shepard teased with a smirk.

Miranda slowly returned to reality and stated a little annoyed, "Yes I did."

"Oh?" Shepard asked cautiously.

"_Commander Williams_ want to speak with you." Miranda responded like she couldn't be bothered with even mentioning the name out loud.

"Okay." Shepard paused for a moment and glanced at Miranda, "Speak your mind."

"I'm not too excited about you socializing with her."

Shepard smirked, "Are we jealous?"

"I am not!" Miranda cried out defensively.

"Well, you're kinda hot when you are."

Miranda snorted.

Shepard laughed and closed the distance and placed his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. "I want you and no one else. I'm just trying to repair what's left and be friends with her. Nothing else."

Miranda still glared at him, but nowhere as angrily. His warm and damped naked body pressed against her and his affirmation of love disarmed her and she felt a sexual craving build up instead.

Miranda gave him a faint smile, "Okay. There's also a message from Thane. And no I didn't read that. Felt a little too personal."

Shepard nodded, "I'll read it later." Then he teased, "Didn't know you could restrain your curiosity like that."

Miranda rolled her eyes but explored his body with her hands. It was a great sensation feeling his warm body shiver to her touch.

"You look hot in my t-shirt." Shepard grinned.

"You look hot with no clothes at all." Miranda countered with a sly smile and a seductive tone.

Miranda slid one of her arms around him and let the other hand travel down his abdomen and found the towel were it was folded and could also feel Shepard getting aroused underneath the towel. She unfolded it but still kept the towel in place around his abdomen with her hand and leaned in closer so her lips brushed against his.

"I see we are on the same page here." Shepard teased, his breathing deepened.

Miranda said with a sultry voice, "Sadly we have to do this quick, we're less than two hours away from the Citadel and we have administrative chores to do before we dock. You know I rather would have savored the moment."

"I'll make it up to you later." Shepard grinned and kissed her lips quickly.

Miranda released her hold on the towel which fell to the floor and she purred sensually, "Mmm, you better."

* * *

With a few minutes left until they arrived at the Widow-system and the Citadel, Shepard was sitting at his computer in the office, fully clothed this time in his dress blues, quietly reading Thane's message that had come in over the night. His drell friend was attending recovery sessions and was also keeping an eye on Ashley. Other than that Thane was in good spirit and health considering and merely wanted to keep in touch. Shepard suspected that Thane had a little too much spare time even if he did spend time with Kolyat. Shepard decided to wait on writing a response. As he intended to visit Ashley at Huerta maybe he would bump into Thane there.

The door to his quarters opened with a hiss and Shepard turned his chair around. It was Miranda who returned engrossed in her datapad.

"Everything's in order?" Shepard asked.

Miranda put down the datapad on the table and faced Shepard, "Yes, Lieutenant Cortez has forwarded the requisition list to me and I thought it was all in order. If need be we'll be good for a couple a weeks away from civilization."

"Good . So what are your plans for the port call?"

"I'll stay on the ship." Miranda responded. She moved to sit on the table next to Shepard. She crossed her legs and frowned a bit. "There's something I'd like to talk about."

"Yes?" Shepard asked curiously and glanced at her.

"I don't like Williams. I don't like that you are going to meet her."

"I just want to-"

"Be friends. Yes you told me that." Miranda cut him off with a hint of coldness.

"I have also told you that she did too much damage last year. Too much damage to get back together again. I'm not interested in her."

"Maybe you don't want to get back to her, but I'm certain she's trying. It seems every woman want you." Miranda argued.

Shepard moved his hand to her lap and caressed it reassuringly as he spoke in a soft voice. "I only want you. I don't care about the others."

His statement did elicit a smile from her. She took his hand in hers. "Then I want you to make it perfectly clear to her that you moved on."

"I have already told her that."

"Then tell her that you've moved on with someone else then."

Shepard rose from the chair and stopped in front of her and asked with a smirk, "Are Ms. Lawson of the possessive nature?"

"I know what I want, and I'm not in the mood in sharing."

Shepard leaned in and slid his arms around her body, "Oh? It sounds like you have claimed me as if I'm some piece of land."

Miranda shrugged with a coy smile, "What if I did?"

"I can live with it."

"Good." Miranda said and spread her legs and wrapped them around Shepard's waist and pulled him closer.

Shepard smirked, "Shall I plaster it on the extranet as well? Announce it over the intercom?"

Miranda rolled her eyes, "No. And I think the ship's crew knows by now, it is probably the prime gossip onboard, and I don't care if they know or what they think of us."

Shepard nodded but didn't say anything.

"And if you break my heart…" Miranda warned.

"I won't." Shepard said before he smirked, "Hell hath no fury like Miranda scorned."

Miranda arched an eye brow, "You think you are clever now?"

"I thought so." Shepard grinned. "What? A grunt can't know stuff like that? I did go through officer school."

"That's not exactly how it goes you know." Miranda stated but couldn't stop smiling at their banter which she always enjoyed.

"Just modified it a bit." Shepard leaned in and gave her a quick kiss.

"If you are trying to impress me with your so called academic knowledge your of on a bad start." Miranda teased after they parted.

Shepard chuckled, "Your smile and body language says otherwise."

Miranda rolled her eyes and pulled Shepard close and leaned in and kissed him, this time deepening it which made him moan in response.

They parted half a minute later and Miranda smirked, "Just a little something so you know I'll be waiting for your expedient return."

"Of course." Shepard chuckled and reluctantly pulled away from her. "Oh, before I go. I changed my orders to EDI, she's allowed to break through the restraints if it's an matter of life and death situation. Just so you know."

Miranda sighed a bit, "Sure."

Shepard noticed Miranda wasn't too happy about hearing that. "It was all fun and games during the transit, but it is for the best if she can reach either of us as quickly as possible."

Miranda nodded and conceded, "Yes of course. You have a point."

Shepard leaned in and kissed her cheek, "I'll be back shortly, love."

* * *

Shepard had stepped out of the elevator in the CIC, which was nearly empty as a large part of the crew had been given some short R&R time on the Citadel. Shepard had noticed Garrus leaning on the handrail near Shepard's private terminal, waiting for him. Shepard had asked his turian friend to tag along to the hospital and visit Ashley before he would head to the Council Chambers to escort Victus to the Normandy. Shepard figured Ashley needed to see at least someone else then himself. He had also thought of bringing Liara with them but apparently she had been sleeping the better part of the day, being exhausted from all her work running Shadow Broker operations to support the war. Shepard thought she was working too hard and not taking enough time for herself to rest and he was glad she had finally got into bed. Whether it was from his nagging or her own decision didn't matter as long as she got some well deserved rest. Shepard and Garrus left the Normandy and took the elevator in the docking bay to Huerta Memorial Hospital.

The two walked casually through the Patient Lounge after leaving the elevator.

"So Thane is around here somewhere?" Garrus asked.

"Well, if he is here now I have no idea." Shepard said and stopped in the middle of the waiting area and gazed across the hall, "He's here daily receiving medical treatment."

"Okay." Garrus said and looked around as well.

Shepard shook his head, "Maybe he's with his son. He did mention that he felt alright in his mail."

"Would have been nice to meet him." Garrus mused.

Shepard turned to his friend, "I'll forward his mail address to you when we get back to the Normandy."

Garrus nodded, "Appreciate it."

The two continued their stroll through the Patient Lounge when Shepard noticed an old friend of theirs standing in the corner near the entrance to the Impatient Wing, talking to a resident physician. It was Dr. Michel. Shepard made a detour towards the corner while Garrus glanced at Shepard curiously. The turian hadn't recognized her yet.

Michel noticed Shepard and lit up with a bright smile and walked towards him after a quick apology to her colleague, "Shepard! It's so good to see you!" She quickly embraced Shepard in a friendly hug. The other physician made herself scarce.

"You too Chloe." Shepard said gladly. He motioned with his arm at Garrus' direction, "Didn't know I would find you here, but look who I got with me."

"Garrus!" Chloe exclaimed in glee and cut the distance short and quickly hugged Garrus who was surprised by the action but he returned the gesture none the less.

They parted and Garrus said, "Surprising to see you here. An upgrade since the last time."

"Oh yes." Michel said as she stepped away from Garrus to glance at the two friends. "It is, and it's all thanks to you two for helping me with Fist and those other thugs, and now I'm head physician on Huerta."

"No problem." Shepard said and smirked. "Is everything all right?"

"Considering the war its fine. We've a lot to do, but we make due." She glanced in Garrus next to her, "So you are on a new grand crusade Garrus?"

Garrus chuckled, "Well, Shepard needs all the help he can get so of course I'd join up with him."

"I see. Just be careful out there, both of you. The galaxy is lucky to have you two fighting for it."

Shepard smiled awkward as he tried to suppress a blush from her praise, it was not often he blushed, "Well, we do what we need to I guess." _Thank God Miranda isn't here now; she'd probably find the embarrassment hilarious._

"So what brings you two here? Are you here for Lieutenant Williams?" Michel asked.

Shepard was unsure if she'd noticed his reaction. But it was a good save, "Yes we are actually. How is she doing?"

"She's recovering." Michel said and tapped her omni-tool. "Quite well actually, it'll take a couple of weeks before she's discharged from here, but I'm still unsure if' I'd let her get back to duty with her injures right away. Her back had some serious injuries. The concussion to the head is getting better and there's no evidence that there will be any cognitive complications because of the concussion."

"That sounds good, doctor." Shepard said and turned to his turian friend, "I'll head in first Garrus."

Garrus nodded, "Yeah of course. I'll entertain myself here."

"Right." Shepard turned to Michel, "It was great seeing you again Chloe. Take care."

"You too Shepard." Michel said and Shepard disappeared through the door to the impatient wing. She gave Garrus a glance, "Something going on between the two of them?"

"Ah...not anymore." Garrus said carefully.

* * *

Ashley, dressed in patient clothes, glanced out through the large window in her recovery room, admiring the view of the Citadel Lake and the Presidium outside. It was a calming view and took her mind of the war. She was getting increasingly annoyed at being locked up inside a hospital while the war was raging in the galaxy. While Shepard and her friends were fighting it she was not. Accepting Udina's offer was a step in the right direction, although Dr. Michel wouldn't allow her to leave the hospital for a couple of more weeks, and even then she was apparently hesitant to let Ashley back on active duty. It was not what Ashley wanted to hear.

But Ashley smiled. She'd come a long way since boot camp, but it all did feel scary at times. Her family name had come a long way since being black listed in the service. Next week she was about to be inducted into the SPECTREs. _Her!_ Ashley Madeline Williams, Lieutenant in the Systems Alliance Navy! Her career had propelled fast these past years since the Battle of the Citadel; she still couldn't fathom how fortunate she had been. Her dad would be proud if he'd still been alive. But she knew he was watching over her.

She glanced nervously on the clock next to the bed. Apparently Shepard had received her mail and would come over and visit her today, apparently the Normandy had been on its way to the Citadel. Even with all her new fortunes with new rank and soon-to-be SPECTRE status, something was still missing in her life. No, someone was missing in her life. Since talking with Shepard the last time, Ashley had begun to seriously regret what she had told Shepard on Horizon last year. Effectively ending their relationship in anger and confusion over seeing him alive again

The door behind her slid open with a hiss. Ashley turned and saw Shepard stroll through, wearing his dress blues. His chest was filled with several rows of ribbons, badges and he even had a few medals pinned on the uniform. Two of them were the _Star of Terra_. He had received the first one after Elysium, and the second citation after the Battle of the Citadel. She herself had of course attended the ceremony that was held a week after the battle, as had the rest of their squad as they all were awarded medals for their gallantry in action. Although Shepard was the only one of them that had received the Star of Terra, the highest award any Alliance marine could be awarded. And as far as Ashley knew, Commander John Shepard was the only human thus far that had received the award twice! Ashley remembered how the two of them had celebrated _privately_ that evening in the hotel room.

"Hey." Shepard said with a smile. "It's good to see you on your feet again. How are you feeling?" He stopped within arm's reach from her.

"Hi. I'm getting there." Ashley said with a faint smile.

"I brought Garrus with me. He's in the lounge talking with Dr. Michel."

Ashley's smile widened, "You did? Great. It'll be fun to talk with Garrus after all this time."

"Yeah, I thought the same. I planned on drag along Liara too, but she was sound asleep. It's a lot to do when you are the Shadow Broker."

"Oh, I got a lovely mail from her not too long ago." Ashley raised an eyebrow, "So, speaking of the Shadow Broker. How did that happen?"

"Oh yeah, that's a long story." Shepard said and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"I got time. I have nothing to do here; I have read all the hard copy books I could get my hands on so please indulge me and tell the story."

Ashley pulled up a chair from the corner and sat down in front of Shepard and crossed her legs.

"Oh, well I can give it a shot." Shepard said and cleared his throat. "Well, after my unfortunate death the original Shadow Broker was out to retrieve my body for the Collectors."

"First, who was he and second, why were they gunning for your body?"

"He was a yagh; a lot of teeth and slobber. Tough bastard to kill. And yeah, the Collectors, or rather the Reapers wanted my body. I guess I would make a great sleeper agent for them."

"A yagh? Have to look that up I guess. Continue."

"Well, Liara was trying to find me as well, she couldn't let go of me. Cerberus was after me as well, they had actually intended to try and recruit me directly after Sovereign's attack, but they had to rethink their strategy a bit after I was spaced, so Liara and the Cerberus...agent in charge teamed up to find me."

"And...Cerberus wanted you to fight the Collectors? And how did they intend to recruit you?"

"Ah...hmm. I guess we'll never know."

"Right."

"So to sum it up, Liara found me and handed me over to Cerberus, but in the process her contact, a friend that was working with the Shadow Broker, and then for Cerberus in order to capture my body, was captured by the Broker. Liara dedicated the coming two years as an information broker on Illium to find him."

"What a mess." Ashley muttered.

"Yeah. Fast forward to last year and I received some intelligence from Cerberus and I worked with Liara to take down the Shadow Broker and rescued her friend. In the aftermath she took control over Shadow Broker operations. In the process we had to kill a SPECTRE who was working for the Broker to stop us."

"Really?" Ashley asked stunned. "Who?"

"Her name was Tela Vasir. I had never heard about her before our encounter."

"Hmm, I think I heard some news reports on a SPECTRE agent that died under dubious circumstances."

"That would be a combination of our biotics and bullets."

Ashley chuckled, "So our archeologist is now the most powerful asari in the galaxy."

"She is. And she's very dedicated to help the war effort."

"This is all mindboggling to say the least."

Shepard asked carefully, "So, did you hear anything from your family?"

Ashley smiled happily, "Oh yes! Everyone made it out in time."

"That's great news Ashley. I'm glad they're okay."

Ashley's smile vanished as she pondered on the events her mom and Sarah and told her. She sighed and morosely spoke, "But Sarah's husband is KIA."

Ashley had only met him a handful of times. And both he and Sarah had looked so happy during the wedding ceremony. Sarah was the first of the Williams sisters that had gotten married. Her mom and been so proud. And then, a week later the Reapers attacked. _It wasn't fair!_

"I'm sorry Ash." Shepard said sincerely.

"Thanks John." Ashley said. "I had never seen Sarah so happy before when they married. But somehow I knew that she wasn't suited for the life of a military wife."

Shepard nodded and reflected with sorrow, "There's probably many families that have been torn apart by the war."

Ashley shook her head, "That's something I don't want to think about. It makes it all so much more futile and hopeless."

"Hey." Shepard said in a soothing voice "Don't blame yourself for this Ashley."

Ashley sighed, "I try not to, but she's my baby sis and I feel so helpless when I can't be there for her. And I was in the past you know. Whether it was boy problems or some stupid kid that tried to bully her I was always there."

"I understand."

"The memorial wall in the holding area at the docks? My sister plans to visit the Citadel and the memorial. Say a few words about family." Ashley sighed, "It'll be rough."

Shepard nodded, "I could accompany you if you want. Give me a heads up and I'll try and make it."

Ashley wasn't ready for his offer, but then again it was Commander Shepard, he was always selfless and helped others. "Yeah, thanks John. I'll do that."

"Good. So you wrote in your mail that you accepted Udina's offer."

Ashley nodded, "Yeah, the ceremony will be held later next week, 12 days from now."

"Ready for the hardships of a SPECTRE?" Shepard joked.

"Honestly? It feels intimidating but at the same time it's a great honor really. I never thought I would be appointed SPECTRE status, or even become an officer in the Alliance with my family name. I guess it haven't sunk in yet."

"Well, you've done well for yourself Ash and I think you deserve it." Shepard said.

"Thanks Skipper, it feels great hearing that from you."

"Just remember to take it easy, you have to recuperate you know. If you are still injured or out of shape, you can do more damage than good out there."

"I guess, but being stuck here while the war is out there...it don't' feel right."

Shepard nodded, "I understand. Do you have any idea what your assignment will be?"

She shook her head, "I don't have the faintest clue really what duties I'll be given. But...well, I'd like to return to the Normandy if that's alright with you."

Ashley noticed Shepard's body stiffen and he froze.

_So that's it? He doesn't even what me around anymore? Why come here and act all concerned?_

"What?" She asked harshly, "You don't want me around anymore?"

"It's not that." Shepard said evenly, "But things have changed. You are of course welcome back, I need all the help I can get."

Ashley's eyes narrowed. _He is definitely avoiding something._ She continued in the same tone, "And?"

Shepard sighed, "I think you deserve to know that I moved on with someone else."

Ashley's eyebrows rose in surprise and then she frowned. _That bastard was fucking someone else behind my back last year!_

"You son of a bitch!" Ashley snarled.

Shepard rolled his eyes, "It began after you told me that you had moved on and that you didn't love me."

"Is it someone I know?" Ashley countered scornfully. She had easily figured out that Tali had a crush on Shepard when they hunted Saren, but their timid quarian had never acted on her feelings. And then there was Liara, who he had spoken so fondly off moments ago. Liara had even confronted Shepard about her feelings, but Shepard had declined as he was after Ashley's favor instead.

Shepard shook his head, "No, you don't know her."

"What's her name?" Ashley spat out.

Shepard was silent for a few moments, clearly contemplating the question. Ashley was still glaring at him.

"Miranda."

"And who is she?"

Shepard was clearly not comfortable with that question. Finally he shook his head and asserted, "That's not important."

"I want to know who this bitch is!"

Shepard frowned and narrowed his eys on Ashley. He spoke with a strong voice, "Someone I met last year _after you_ ended it. You think I would just shrug all that off? You made it clear were you stood, you can't blame me for moving on."

Ashley was fuming with anger, "Why the hell are you even here?"

Shepard was getting increasingly annoyed, "Despite everything, I want to be friends Ashley; with all that is going on I don't want to lose another friend. I've lost too many under my command already since the Reapers came. First Kaidan on Virmire, after that the 20 crew members from the SR1 and I also lost two friends during the Collector Mission. With all the death around us I don't want to be enemies."

Ashley snorted, "I was confused and angry seeing you standing in front of me. You tore everything up again."

"It wasn't like I planned on everything happening this way." Shepard argued.

"So considering your reaction, she's onboard the Normandy?"

With a slight pause Shepard answered, "Yes."

"What, she's Cerberus?" Ashley asked sardonically with a humorless chuckle as she thought it couldn't be possible for Shepard to...

Her line of thought trailed off.

Ashley watched with increased horror as Shepard was silent and clenched his jaw. It dawned upon Ashley that her acerbic retort was correct and she flung up on her feet from the chair.

"You're _fucking_ someone from Cerberus?!" Ashley cried out in anger and disbelief, glaring down at Shepard with an icy stare.

"I'm not." Shepard said irritated. He rose from the bed; they stood once again at arm's length. "She's not with Cerberus anymore."

Ashley's eyes widened. She felt sick. "Oh God. All this time you said you weren't with Cerberus you've been in bed with one instead."

"Ash come on she isn'-"

Ashley slapped him across the face with her right hand as hard as she could. Shepard staggered from the blow.

"Don't Ash me!" She snapped.

Shepard winced under the pain and closed his eyes. He remained still and moments later he slowly reopened his eyes.

"Does the Alliance know of your sweet new girlfriend?" Ashley asked sarcastically sweet with a hint of coldness.

"What do you think?" Shepard replied angrily under his breath, glaring at Ashley.

"That you are a traitor! Do you remember what they have done? The sick experiments? Assassinating Alliance admirals?" Ashley screamed right into his face.

"I do remember that, and Miranda had nothing to do with those events." Shepard argued agitated.

"How the hell do you know that?" Ashley countered bitterly.

"She told me!" Shepard snapped back

"And you believe her?"

"Yeah I do." Shepard asserted angrily.

"Get out." Ashley hissed sharply, pointing at the door.

"I see this isn't going nowhere." Shepard said coldy and turned and walked away. He swiped his hand over the door's interface and disappeared out in the hallway after it opened.

Ashley remained still and crossed her arms, glaring at the door in anger.

* * *

_**Edited (2012-11-03):**_

_**A scene similar to the one I just added have always been in the back of my mind, but other plots took precedent and I never got around writing one. It's only natural to assume that the addition of Miranda to the ship would raise some eyebrows and there are going to be detractors of Miranda, and maybe even some would have problems with some choices done by Shepard, and thus I now present a few of those reactions. That I didn't add a similar scene like this before is a slight oversight from my part and that's now being corrected. What will happen? We will see :). **_

_**The two "antagonists" have been mentioned in the story but was never given face-time, I had planned for the War Room guards to show up, but those scenes would almost play out as in the game. So why not add something original instead? And know they can have more impact on the story then just talk over current events in the guard booth as it's in the game.**_

_**Rethorical question;** **and what do you the readers rather want me to write? Some light stuff on third-hand characters or focus on the romance-plot between Shepard and Miranda? If I go by the statistics that shows how many views each individual chapter gets, those that are Miranda-centric and those that centers on the romance-plot have a lot of views. The romance part is also much more fun for me to write and I rather spend time on those chapters then on third-hand characters that are not really vital to the story :)**_

_**xXserialkillerXx get credit for a few additional suggestions that ended up in the scene.**_

_**I also made a slight change in Garrus' dialogue about gossiping in chapter 20**_

_**Quotes from: Casino Royale, Band of Brothers, The Town.**_

_**Thanks to reader "torexile" who pointed out a vast amount of grammatical errors throughout the story that are being changed. Although the list was cut short so I couldn't read the additional changes "torexile" had forwarded after Chapter 13.**_

_**Chapter title blatantly taken from a Two Steps from Hell composition.**_

_**Edited (******__2012-10-01_): Minor changes.  


_****__**Edited (**__********__2012-10-02_): Additional changes.

_****__****__****__**Edited (**__********__2012-10-07_): I found and corrected several spelling errors.  


_****__****__****__****__****__****__****__**Edited (**__********__2012-11-20_): Small corrections and additions.  



	20. Catching Up

Shepard returned to the docking bay and walked through the busy waiting area. He had known that spilling the beans about him and Miranda would spark anger, but he was not happy with the outcome. He had not intended to even brush the subject of Miranda's prior association with Cerberus but he had unconsciously slipped that piece of information. Shepard just hoped Ashley wouldn't go to the Alliance and tell them about it.

After he had left Ashley's recovery room for the decontamination hall he bumped into Garrus who was on his way to Ashley after a chat with Michel, luckily Garrus had not arriver earlier during Shepard's and Ashley's confrontation. Garrus had still elected to talk to Ashley even after Shepard had quickly explained the situation. Maybe Garrus could get her mind on other things instead of running to the Alliance. Regardless of what would happen, Shepard hoped Garrus would be back soon with the Primarch so they could depart the Citadel. If the Alliance would find out about Miranda's presence, Admiral Hackett would likely argue that it was an Alliance ship and that former members of any organization that were hostile to the Alliance had no place there, and Shepard himself would argue that he could do as he pleased considering his SPECTRE status. He figured that the Alliance wouldn't be able to do much but it would certainly be easier if the Normandy was elsewhere than at the Citadel if Miranda's presence was leaked.

The best scenario would be of course if Ashley kept her mouth shut, but Shepard was acutely aware of her stance regarding Cerberus and she was therefore blinded by emotions. And add their estranged relationship it was a time-bomb waiting to explode.

_And you are supposed to negotiate between the krogan and the salarians? Real slick cowboy, _Shepard thought sarcastically for himself as he walked past the corner of the waiting area and walked towards the airlock finding one of his Corporals, Morris, standing outside and guarding several boxes piled up on each other.

"Sir." The young marine greeted with a salute.

Shepard gave the Corporal a salute of his own. "What are you doing Corporal?"

"Guarding the supplies that arrived earlier as per the XO's order. A few others are on loading duty."

"Right, carry on Corporal."

"Yes sir."

Shepard walked past the marine and decided to pick up one of the boxes and assist with the restocking of the Normandy. Apparently the box was a shipment from Cipritine Armory on the Presidium. It was quite heavy but Shepard scooped it up and carried it in his arms as he headed for the airlock and Normandy's decontamination chamber. After decontamination the airlock to the Normandy opened and revealed Miranda leaning on the bulk head in front of the airlock engrossed in her datapad.

She looked up at the unexpected disturbance from the airlock and when she noticed who it was she smiled.

"Commander, I see you are making yourself useful for a change." Miranda teased after Shepard had closed the distance between them.

Shepard smiled back and responded in kind, "Thank you."

"Could you turn the box so I can see the shipping label?"

Shepard did as he was asked and Miranda cross checked the code on the box with the one on her datapad and checked it off.

"Very obedient as usual." Miranda teased as she looked up from the datapad.

Shepard was surprised by her flirting in a public area and looked around and noticing that no one was around in either the bridge or the corridor, which explained her flirtatious manner.

Turning back to Miranda, who was smiling one of her sexy smiles, Shepard responded teasingly, "Well, I aim to please."

"That you do." She said sultry.

Shepard smiled and cleared his throat and decided to be professional, "Garrus will be back eventually with the Primarch and we should head to the rendezvous as soon as we know its location. Are the R&R crew back?"

"No, they're expected within the hour." Miranda replied somewhat unhappy about his change in manner and topic.

"Right, that's a good time frame."

"So everything worked out on your...meeting?" Miranda asked curiously.

Shepard sighed, "I...it went as expected I guess. Let's talk about it later."

"Of course."

"Good. I'll head to the cargo bay with this one."

"I'll see you later."

Shepard nodded and began walking down the corridor to the CIC. Arriving at the elevator the doors opened and three servicemen exited and greeted Shepard as they headed through the CIC on their way to the airlock to fetch several new boxes. Shepard entered the elevator and pressed the button for the cargo bay and it started its slow descent.

After it stopped, Shepard exited the elevator and the door closed shut behind him. The cargo bay was empty sans Cortez standing over one of the armourer-benches. At first glance it seemed to Shepard that he was engrossed in modifying a weapon, one of the Harrier assault rifles they had liberated on Omega. Shepard wanted the Cerberus logo removed and a few other modifications done to it. But as Shepard walked closer to Cortez he noticed that the Lieutenant's head was slumped and his mind was certainly somewhere else, he appeared to be listening to something if the earpiece in his ear was any indication. Their shuttle pilot trembled a bit.

"Is everything alright LT?" Shepard asked as he came up next to Cortez.

Cortez flinched; he was surprised by the disturbance. He pulled out the wireless earpieces and let them hang down his neck by the cords.

"Sorry sir, I didn't hear you." Cortez said and cleared his throat. It was apparent the man had been upset as Shepard saw the contrails of dried up tears on Cortez's face.

Shepard put down the box on the floor in front of his feet and straightened himself and looked at Cortez with concern.

Cortez cleared his throat again, "I...I was listening to a recording from Ferris Fields when the Collectors hit the colony last year."

"I think you mentioned something about that in passing when we first met." Shepard acknowledged.

"Yeah, it's hard to put something like that behind you, even if I have tried. I lost friends that day, as well as my husband." Cortez turned to Shepard.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Shepard said sincerely.

Cortez faintly nodded. "I said my goodbyes and mourned - or thought I did anyway - I thought I had put it all behind me and moved on."

"What happened?"

"I was in charge of construction on a military radar station a few clicks away from the colony when the Collectors hit; they descended on the colony in a massive cruiser. The Collectors were pouring out in droves. So Robert got out of the field the Collectors erected, but instead of fleeing he called me." Cortez's voice was cracking when he spoke about those awful moments.

"So that's what you were listening to now?" Shepard asked carefully. "He must have cared a lot for you if he called you."

Cortez took a deep breath, "He told me to move on and not cling on to his memory and loose myself in despair. I promised I would move on with my life, and I thought I had managed to do that, but apparently I was wrong."

"How so?" Shepard asked. He knew very well the loss of close friends, although he had never lost anyone as close as Cortez did. His mind drifted to Miranda a few decks above him. He hoped he never had to experience such loss with her.

"So the Reapers hit Earth, I'm in my office at the spaceport, and the only thing I grab before rushing for the Normandy was the OSD with this recording?" Cortez tapped his omni-tool, he had downloaded the audio file to it. Cortez continued bitterly, "Why make an effort to change when the galaxy is burning?"

"If you continue that line of thought you have already lost. _We've_ already lost." Shepard told him.

Cortez sighed, "Yeah, I guess that makes sense. It's just, it's hard you know when you feel like this, I've never been as lonely in my life as I am now."

"Well you aren't, if you need someone to talk to I'm here. I care for the people under my command." Shepard assured him.

Cortez brightened up a bit, "Thanks Commander I appreciate that. And don't worry, when I'm piloting the Kodiak I'm focused on the mission and I won't endanger anyone's life. It's just when I got nothing to occupy my mind with between the missions it gets harder to keep stuff like this away."

"I know. And I also know a thing or two about losing people so I can relate."

"I understand Commander." Cortez eyed the box on the floor, "I see my mods have arrived."

Shepard nodded and knelt down and picked up the box and placed in on the bench. "Are you on track with the rifles?"

"Oh yes Shepard, I am. I'll be able to cover up the Cerberus logos now and change out the barrels. I've already upped the ammo count a bit now; you can fire 30 rounds before changing clips."

Shepard grinned, "That'll do nicely. Well, if everything's better I'll head upstairs."

"Yes, thank you for the talk Shepard."

"Anytime." Shepard said and gave Cortez a nod and turned for the elevator.

* * *

Shepard had taken the elevator up to engineering and strolled down the corridor to the Starboard Cargo Area were Zaeed was residing, he had of course taken over the same room he had during the Collector mission. Shepard respected the privacy of others onboard his ship and knocked on the door. When he heard a muffled voice calling out _'come in'_, Shepard swiped his hand over the interface and the door slid open. He stepped inside and found Zaeed sitting at the desk near the door, doing maintenance on his old rifle. It was still odd seeing him without his usual armor, instead he wore some nondescript BDU's, clearly not Alliance issued.

"Shepard." Zaeed growled looking up.

Shepard smirked, "You know, newer rifles don't need _that_ much maintenance."

"And I don't need ter reload all the time."

"Fair point." Shepard shrugged and leaned on the wall next to the bench.

"Somethin' on your mind Shepard?"

"Just checking up."

"No complaints, one ov da Corpawal's came around wiv a crate ov stuff I 'ad Cortez procure so I'm sorted."

"Good."

"Omega was one 'ell ov a fight Shepard, I tell yew when what Mantis showed up i' almost turned in'er a bi' ov raspberry jam back there, but we got the swag, kept the money. It's a job well done, a job well done indeed. That's a fact."

Shepard chuckled, "Yeah, that gunship raised my heart rate a few beats."

"So what's next?" Zaeed asked.

"We'll head for the summit when everyone is aboard and see what we can do to up the war effort a bit."

"Yeah, those salarians are gonna be a mowf full to 'andle."

"Likely, they're as stubborn as anyone else though. I got a question?"

"Shoot."

"What's up with the nickname? Why Jessie?" Shepard eyed the disassembled rifle on the table.

Zaeed silently glanced at Shepard before he continued, "Oi, don't spread it, but it's named after me first love from middle school."

Shepard couldn't help but to grin at that revelation, "I didn't take you for a sentimental man Zaeed."

Zaeed frowned, "Shut it, dis rifle's been wiv me since I started mercenary work, an' she's a fine rifle, just a Jessie was a fine lay. For a kid that is."

Shepard chuckled, "That's fair I guess."

"Hey, if yew speak a word about it..." Zaeed warned.

"You know I'll keep quiet about it with others."

"Good man, Shepard. You know dis Wrex-character right?"

Shepard nodded.

"Let's 'ope yew can keep the krogan on a leash, 'em an' da salarian in the same room's gon'a be in'eresting."

"High level negotiations between the salarians and the krogan are new, so yeah, it's going to be interesting. Wrex will probably want something major in return before he commits to the war."

Zaeed nodded, "Yeah."

Shepard stood up from the wall, "I'll leave you to your rifle. See you around Zaeed."

"I'll talk ter yew later Shepard."

Shepard quickly left the Starboard Cargo Area and walked down the corridor to the elevator and pressed a button to call it down as someone else had used it during his time with Zaeed.

He leaned against the large glass window in front of the elevator doors when EDI contacted him over the intercom.

"_Commander. Garrus is back with the Primarch, they're in the contamination chamber."_

"Thank you EDI." Shepard told EDI as the elevator arrived.

* * *

The resupplying of the Normandy was finished and Miranda thought the restocking of Normandy had taken surprisingly fast, which she would note in her report. They were now stocked with additional food, medical supplies and even some extra weapons and mods so the Normandy would be able to be out for several weeks without resupplying. In all Miranda was satisfied with everything. They still needed to organize their new supplies which would probably take the better part of the rest of the day and maybe even the next morning. Luckily they didn't need to stay for repairs or extra maintenance as the Normandy was in top shape, and the engineering department led by Lieutenant Adams _**[author's note: see text at the end of chapter] **_had not reported any fluctuations with their propulsion system. In all, the Normandy was ready for action.

Miranda was halfway to the elevator with her datapad in hand when EDI reported that Garrus had arrived with the Primarch and that she would alert Shepard of it as well. As John wasn't present Miranda turned around and headed back to the airlock to greet the turians. When she arrived onboard the Normandy she'd never met the Primarch so this would be their first meeting but Shepard had told her about the events on Menae and the man himself after she arrived.

The airlock opened with a hiss just as Miranda arrived, and Garrus and Victus stepped out.

"Welcome aboard Primarch Victus, I'm XO Miranda Lawson." She greeted with a professional smile and extended her hand which Victus took in his. He was clearly surprised as he hadn't known about her presence aboard the Normandy,

"Adrien Victus."

Miranda gave Garrus a greeting nod and turned her attention back to Victus, "The Commander is on his way, but I was already here so I decided to be the greeting party." Miranda motioned with her arm for them to walk down the corridor to the CIC.

"Of course. I don't think we've met, although you humans all look alike." Victus light-heartedly joked.

Miranda chuckled, "Perhaps. But I arrived just shortly after the Normandy's stopped here after the Menae-mission."

"Okay." Victus responded "So what are your duties onboard Ms. Lawson?" He decided to make some small talk with her.

"Well, I'm part of the mission team and when not on missions I oversee most of the administrative duties and aide the Commander in any way that's needed."

"And how long have you been with the Alliance?"

Miranda didn't miss a beat, "I'm not with the Alliance. I'm more of a freelancer. It's not the first time Commander Shepard works with people outside the Alliance."

The trio arrived at the steps that led down to the Galaxy Map and continued onwards.

"I see." Victus said evenly and eyed Garrus behind them but Garrus didn't say a word and remained impassive. The Primarch had noticed that the uniform to XO was wearing was certainly not Alliance standard. It piqued his interest. "So what did you do before being assigned to the Normandy?"

Miranda didn't know if it was prudent to talk about her past associations with the Primarch, and it was apparent Garrus hadn't mentioned her. She debated what she would say but found it unnecessary to lie as the truth would most likely come out eventually.

"I was part of Cerberus up until last year and worked with Commander Shepard on the Collector mission." Miranda explained casually.

They were halfway past the Galaxy Map and Victus stopped and turned to Miranda who stopped as well. His mandibles twitched and he looked at her curiously.

"Cerberus? Excuse me for saying it but you don't seem-"

Miranda interrupted him with a humorless chuckle, "What? Like a Cerberus operative? Xenophobic?" Miranda shrugged, "Maybe I am xenophobic. Maybe I'm not."

"Yes, exactly what I was about to ask." Victus said slowly. "And are you?"

Miranda suppressed her will to roll her eyes and responded evenly, "I'm not xenophobic. There are a lot of things humanity can learn from the other races."

"And what prompted this…defection?"

Miranda spat angrily, "The Illusive Man most certainly didn't care about the abducted colonists; he just wanted the technology at the Collector base."

"Garrus have told me some interesting stories from that mission." Victus eyed Garrus who had stopped next to Victus but he was still silent. Victus turned back to Miranda again. "So you didn't share the goal to acquire this Collector base for Cerberus?"

"Absolutely not. That base was an abomination and needed to be wiped out. The Illusive Man wanted me to stop John but I resigned instead."

Victus' remained impassive but the gears were turning in his head. He began to sense something when the XO had slipped and called the Commander by his first name.

"So Commander Shepard has your loyalty now?"

"Yes."

"What about Cerberus' other goals?"

"Protecting humanity? It's a noble cause and was never the problem. Cerberus leadership on the other hand is a problem and definitely certain aspects on how that mission was carried out. And sadly too many joined out of racism instead of the will to help humanity. The Alliance is handicapped; just look how they neglected to listen to John when he warned _everyone_ about the Reapers. The Council is handicapped as well." Miranda paused and smiled wicked, "The other races are looking out for their own interests. Why shouldn't we?"

Victus gazed at Miranda, "Perhaps. But no group should conduct itself like Cerberus does."

"I don't support their actions and haven't for some time. But even you are known to be a maverick Primarch. Conducting yourself in rather unorthodox ethics and tactics. You do anything to get the job done. For instance when you led a team after those batarian terrorists that had kidnapped a high ranking turian business executive; you captured one of the batarian hostage takers wives in response and severed one of her fingers and sent to the hostage takers. The turian was released two days later unharmed. A risk, but it was quite efficient. Of course some in the turian hierarchy were not happy with how you handled the situation."

Victus pondered her words. "You've done your homework Ms. Lawson. I'm fascinated that you are onboard an Alliance vessel."

Miranda nodded. She had done some light reading on Victus after they docked to the Citadel in preparation for his arrival. Miranda didn't like going into a situation without some intelligence. She had noted there were some distinct similarities between Victus and John.

"Commander Shepard needs all the help he can get to fight the Reapers. I'm loyal to that cause and to the Commander."

"Alright."

Miranda spotted a few servicemen walking down the stairs from the corridor on her right; apparently their crew began to return back now. Behind her she heard the elevator stopping. She turned slightly and the doors opened and Commander Shepard walked out.

"Primarch, welcome back." Shepard greeted and walked up to the trio.

"Commander." Victus greeted with a nod.

The handful of servicemen returning saluted Shepard and the others and walked past them towards the elevator. Shepard gave them a nod before the serviceman disappeared into the elevator

Shepard glanced at the Miranda, Victus and Garrus with a curious look on his face, "What's going on?"

"I'm just having a few words with your XO. It's an interesting ensemble of people you have onboard." Victus mused.

"Only the best. Is there a problem?" Shepard countered slowly. He figured Victus had been told of Miranda's former association.

"No of course not. If I may be so bold, but it seems like you forge alliances with the unlikeliest of people." Victus said with a turian grin.

Shepard shrugged, "Anything to get the job done."

"So, where are we going Primarch?" Miranda interrupted sweetly, moving their conversation forward.

"The Pranas system in the Annos Basin."

"The salarian home system?"

"Exactly, the salarians wanted to be on one of their worlds but the krogan were not keen on that so I suggested the Normandy as neutral ground, and the krogan eventually agreed." Victus responded.

"EDI, how long would it take for us to get there?" Shepard asked

_"Approximately 10 hours and 32 minutes, Commander." _EDI responded.

"Right, thank you. Send message to those that haven't returned to get here ASAP, I don't want to delay any further."

_"As you wish Commander."_

"I'll head to the War Room Commander so I can coordinate our arrival with the krogan and the salarians."

"Of course Primarch."

Victus gave the others a nod and walked away towards the War Room.

As Victus left them Miranda turned to Shepard, "I have some reports to fill out, I'll see you later Commander." Unbeknownst to Garrus, Miranda gave Shepard a wink as she brushed past him and walked towards the elevator.

"Of course Ms. Lawson." Shepard responded with a grin and followed her with his eyes.

Garrus cleared his throat, "I have a few new toys that I need to tinker with so I'll head to the cargo bay."

"Right, but before you go, a quick word." Shepard said and turned his attention to Garrus.

"Sure."

Shepard spoke in a low voice, "So what happened with Williams?"

"She was pissed. She contemplated running to the Alliance and spill the beans on Lawson's presence."

"Shit!" Shepard hissed. "I'm not surprised."

"I might have talked her out of it; I mentioned that the war effort is more important and that we have important business that could get bogged down if the Alliance got word of our XO. She actually agreed that the war was more important then petty grudges."

Shepard sighed in relief, "That's something at least."

"Right. So if you don't need me anymore I'm going to head downstairs and inspect some new weapons I ordered." Garrus seemed overjoyed at the thought and seemed anxious to head down.

"Oh?"

Garrus spoke excited, "Yeah, ordered several Krysae anti-material rifles. A beautiful toy and I can't wait to try it out on the field."

Shepard chuckled and patted his friend on the shoulder, "Right I won't keep you."

"See you later." Garrus left Shepard at the Galaxy Map and strolled away towards the elevator.

* * *

Within half an hour the remaining R&R crew returned to the Normandy and resumed their duties. Joker was quickly in place helming the Normandy, and Shepard punched in the coordinates to the Annos Basin and the Pranas System from the Galaxy Map, and the Normandy was soon in transit again. Shepard had ventured down to the infirmary and checked up on Chakwas who was busy unpacking, storing and cataloguing all the new medical supplies that had arrived. After a quick chat Shepard disappeared towards Liara's quarters and knocked on the door. A few moments later Liara opened the door.

"Oh, Shepard. What can I do for you?" Liara asked and motioned for him to come in.

The door closed behind Shepard after he stepped in and he said, "You don't look as tired anymore."

"No. Getting some sleep was exactly what I needed." Liara said with a faint smile. They walked a few meters into the office.

"Keeping yourself busy with work again?" Shepard asked and eyed the wall of monitors beaming out different activities, reports and charts.

Liara shrugged, "One call leads to another. And who would keep things afloat if I didn't do my job as the Broker?"

"Feron?"

"Feron is out doing important work for me. Work I can only trust him with."

"Okay."

"How did things go with Commander Williams?"

Shepard rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortable, "Let's not talk about that."

"Oh?" Liara inquired with an arched eyebrow.

Shepard sighed, "I told her about Miranda and me. I think you can figure out the outcome."

"I see. Did you really expect her to react any differently?"

"I guess not, but she was very emotional and seemed like she couldn't let go. Which is contradictory itself when she said she moved on last year."

"Can you really hold that against her? You died and came back. What did you expect her to do?"

"You weren't there on Horizon and on the receiving end of her hateful words." Shepard said and frowned a bit.

"Right, I'm sorry John I shouldn't have said that." Liara said apologetic.

"Don't be. It's in the past. But that she thought that I would shrug all that off and then get back together after I ended my association with Cerberus is just silly. So suddenly it suits her because I'm back with the Alliance?"

"I didn't think you would return to the Alliance."

"My _'trial'_ could have stopped a potential war with the batarians Hackett said. And I need the Alliance and the Council to beat the Reapers."

"Fair point."

"Anyway, I'm just venting here." Shepard said tiredly.

Liara gave him a friendly smile, "I think you are allowed moments to vent your frustrations, and I'll listen if you need an ear."

"Thanks Liara." Shepard said with a faint smile.

"Will Wrex be negotiating on behalf of the krogan?"

With half a chuckle Shepard said, "Probably. I never thought Wrex would become the _de facto_ leader of the krogans. He always said he didn't want to have anything to do with the krogan after he left Tuchanka to pursue mercenary work."

"Maybe you did have an impact on him?" Liara mused. "I think your pushing and prodding regarding his family and then the events on Virmire changed his mind."

Shepard conceed, "That sounds likely."

"Let's hope Wrex is as level headed as we wish him to be. This is the real first attempt to form an alliance in the war."

"Yeah. Have you found anything interesting on those Cerberus files?"

Liara shook her head, "Not much. Neither have the Alliance. The files are hard to decrypt but I have gotten a few things. Mostly how they ran day to day operations. I don't think we'll find anything useful regarding their scientific work. I can foward what I have."

"Do that."

Liara brought up her omni-tool and pressed a few buttons. "Done, and I sent a copy to Miranda as well."

Shepard nodded. "Okay. Well, I'll go bother someone else. It was good talking to you Liara."

"Likewise John." Liara said with a smile and turned to her computers.

* * *

Shepard walked into the mess hall and found Vega hovering over the kitchen, mixing some powder into a bottle of water. Shepard walked over and tapped the muscular marine on the shoulder. "James, what are you up to?"

Vega looked up from the bottle. "Just mixing some supplements and nutritions. I am about to head down the hangar to lift some weights and need some of this stuff."

Shepard raised an eyebrow, "You have no duties to attend to?"

Vega shook his head, "Nah. Esteban is busy down there and don't want anyone to disturb his zone."

"Okay. You had a good time on the Citadel?"

"Yeah, wouldn't mind a little longer though. I was down in the docks and played poker with some guys down there. I was having a good run but then EDI wanted everyone back."

"We needed to be on our way. How did it go?"

"I was up 80 credits." Vega sighed and shook his head exasperated, "I prefer being down there then up the Presidium because they don't even recognize that it's a war out here ." Vega screwed on the top of the bottle and began shaking it so the ingredients mixed with the water.

"People have to escape the realities of the war. It's better than everyone moping or rioting. The Citadel has become a retreat for everyone."

"But how safe is it really?" Vega stopped shaking the bottle and took a sip of the water.

"Be glad that the Citadel isn't in unrest James. I like the calm that the Citadel offers in these times."

Vega shrugged. "Let's just hope the authorities prepare at least."

"Yeah." Shepard said and nodded.

Vega cheered up a bit, "So, have you seen Scars' new toys?"

Shepard shook his head, "No, I haven't."

"Man, those things can do some damage! Apparently the rounds have proximity detonation so even if he misses he'll still cause injury to the target." Vega exclaimed in glee.

Shepard grinned, "He seemed happy enough when he wanted to tinker with them."

"I bet. That turian sure loves his guns." Vega drank some more from the bottle before he closed it. "So we're on our way to that summit now?"

Shepard nodded, "Yeah took them long enough to agree on a meeting place."

Vega sighed angrily, "It's a war out there. Can't they see how we all need to work together, Loco?"

"When people are scared, they're slow to trust."

"I'm just so tired on all this bickering and people dragging their heels."

"I know, and I am too, but we just have to deal with it and move forward. We have at least gotten a few of them to the table."

Vega snorted, "But the blue chicks are on the side lines. They're the most advanced race and they just sit back."

"Hopefully we can get their support soon enough. But everyone's running scared and wants to protect their borders, it's that easy. I don't to like it, but that's the way it is."

"Stupid politicians." Vega sighed he shook his head one last time, "Well, I'll head down to my weights. It was good talking Shepard."

"See you around James."

* * *

In their quarters Miranda was sitting in the couch with her laptop in front of her on the table, writing a mail to Oriana. In the background some soft classical music was playing and she had lit some candles. Miranda had finished report on their logistical replenishment as well as a financial report on the costs. Both had been forwarded to Alliance Command and Shepard's mail account. It would be interesting to see if her lover would read the reports, he had read the operations report and was satisfied with it. Miranda typed away on the computer. Oriana had of course a whole set of questions about Miranda and John that she wanted answered. Miranda answered a few, but not all. Some questions were of the more sensitive matter which she wouldn't answer. Despite Oriana pushing for details about the relationship.

_You can't now everything, Oriana. _

In the background she heard the door open and the sound of boots on the floor. She turned slightly and saw Shepard come into view as he walked down the steps.

"Evening." Shepard said and slid down the armchair and began taking of his boots.

"Hey."

Shepard looked around the room as he tossed one of the boots into the corner near the fish tank. "Nice atmosphere." He turned to Miranda and smiled, "Very romantic."

Miranda smiled faintly, "I guess, but I just wanted something calming."

"Tired?" Shepard asked and the other boot slid off and he tossed it at the direction of the first one.

"A little, but I wanted to turn my head off from all work."

Shepard rose from the armchair and sat down next to Miranda and slid an arm around her waist. Miranda closed the laptop.

"Oh, secrets?" Shepard asked with a grin.

Miranda gave him a coy smile and moved closer, "Perhaps. I was responding on a mail to Oriana." She leaned back into the couch, enjoying the closeness.

"Okay."

"So...what happened earlier? You seemed agitated."

Shepard scratched his stubble and sighed, "Well, I told her that I was with someone else and she freaked out."

Miranda remained impassive but she was glad he had finally told Williams that. Miranda had a nagging feeling that the woman had not let go of John even after their short encounter on Horizon. She still remembered how broken John had been after the mission.

Shepard continued aggravated, "I think it's silly that she thinks that we suddenly can get back together because I'm not associated with Cerberus anymore."

Miranda huffed and rose from the couch and looked down on Shepard, "I knew it! She wants you back!"

"That's the vibe I got." Shepard explained mildly.

"I don't like her." Miranda frowned and crossed her arms under her breasts.

"I have already told her that I moved on."

Miranda still looked at Shepard irritated

Shepard sighed annoyed, "Come on, why are you so jealous and suspicious when there's nothing to warrant that?" Shepard reached out with his arm and took one of her hands in his and pulled lightly to motion her to sit down again.

Miranda rolled her eyes and sat down next to him again. Miranda snorted "I'm not jealous." She crossed her arms again as well as her legs.

"Yes you are." Shepard said knowingly and smirked. "You are jealous, possessive and probably over-protective as well."

Miranda declared annoyed, "I don't like when other women - an ex in this case - are fawning over you."

"You have mentioned that once or twice." Shepard grinned. "All this is kinda flattering actually."

Miranda let out half a chuckle. "I did give you a chance to walk out and you didn't take it so I'm not sharing you." Miranda reached out and touched his lap affectionately.

Shepard slid his arm around her waist again and brought her closer and smirked as he kissed her on the cheek, "Duly noted Ms. Lawson."

Miranda smiled a bit before she turned to him and asked, "So what happened next?"

"Well, you don't need to worry about her _'fawning'_ over me anymore. She made a sarcastic remark that you were Cerberus and then she caught on that she was actually correct."

Miranda sighed. She knew that if that leaked it could have dire consequences for John. "And how did she figure out that?"

"I didn't say anything to contradict her remark."

Miranda scoffed, "Well, you have never been a good liar."

Shepard just shrugged at her jab, "After that she slapped me in the face, and called me a traitor for a second time."

Miranda's eyes widened and she exclaimed angrily, "She hit you?!"

Shepard nodded.

"If I see that bitch I'm going to have a word with her." Miranda hissed and crossed her arms again..

Shepard couldn't help but smirk, "You _are_ over-protective."

Miranda turned to him and scoffed, "I care for you John! Of course I'm going to protect those I care for."

"Right, obviously." Shepard said cautiously.

"If she talks to the Alliance about my presence..." Miranda pondered.

"Garrus saw her after I left her and apparently she did contemplate running to the Alliance-"

Miranda shook her head and scoffed, "Damn her!"

"-but apparently he got her thinking otherwise. The war effort is more important than grudges. That is also why I wanted to leave as soon as possible when Victus arrived. If she did talk to the Alliance we would be long gone on some mission and they would be unable to interfere. Plus it has gone several hours and we haven't heard anything from anyone yet."

"So she's keeping quiet then. Didn't think that would be possible."

"Even if the Alliance would go ballistic I won't care what they'll say."

Miranda looked into his eyes and said firmly, "It's apparent she doesn't want to reconcile and can't get over the past or the present, and she did make it apparent she had moved on last year." There was a slight pause before she continued, "Not that I'm complaining. I'm happy with you."

"And I'm happy with you Miri." Shepard assured her. "I found someone who stands by me and who's loyal to me. Someone I can trust."

Miranda nodded with a smile until she continued evenly, "Don't bother with her anymore. She gave up on _you_."

Shepard contemplated those words for a few moments and looked into her blue irises that hadn't wavered once from looking at him. "You have a point, and I was thinking along the same lines."

Miranda smirked, "Of course I do. I'm the brains here."

Shepard chuckled, "And the looks as well, while I'm the muscle."

Miranda laughed and kissed his cheek before she leaned forward over the table and blew out the candles. "Let's go to bed. It's getting late." She tapped her omni-tool and the music player in the lounge stopped playing.

Shepard grinned, "That sounds like a good plan." He grabbed her by the waist again and pulled Miranda back and moved away her black hair and kissed her neck. She didn't put up much resistance and let him carry on with his mesmerizing activity for a few moments, enjoying the treatment.

Miranda turned around in his embrace and said, "No John, you have to be rested for the summit tomorrow."

Shepard was a little surprised but pushed a little, "We won't arrive until early morning and the summit won't start until a bit later."

"I'm a tired." Miranda declared. "I'm not in the mood John."

Shepard accepted that and said, "Okay." Then he grinned again, "But I thought you would collect on a much longer…_'session' _then the previous one."

Miranda chuckled, "Oh I will Commander, just not tonight. Patience is a virtue."

"That's difficult with you around."

Miranda shook her head and smirked, "Be that as it may you'll have to make due. Help me with the candles." Miranda stood up from the couch.

"Yes ma'am." Shepard said and saluted.

* * *

Only a few hours passed before Shepard woke up. He walked over to the bathroom quickly and quietly and returned to bed a few minutes later but the clock ticked on and he was unable to fall back to sleep for some reason. He glanced over at Miranda who was sound asleep. There had been a lot happening the past three years. Well, minus two when he was out cold. And although their past missions had certainly been difficult, this was entirely a new ball game; the Reapers were here for real this time and destroying everything in their part. James was right; there were too much bickering going on.

Shepard looked at the clock on the night stand; it wasn't even 1 on the night yet. Shepard sighed quietly and looked up in the ceiling and saw the blue-shifted contrails of FTL through the window. Shepard remembered Garrus' earlier offer to drink each other under the table and decided to take up on that if his turian friend was awake.

_A few drinks won't hurt and might even make me tired enough to fall to sleep again._

Shepard slipped out of bed and quickly retrieved his clothes and carried them out through the door. He thought it was unnecessary to put the clothes on if Garrus wasn't up. Outside his room, Shepard called out for EDI.

"EDI, is Garrus still up?"

"_Yes Shepard, he's reading some reports in the forward batteries." _EDI said over the speakers.

"Okay, thank you. Good night."

"_Good night Shepard."_

Shepard quickly dressed, wearing a white shirt and the dress blues pants but leaving the rest of the uniform in his quarters. Shepard called up the elevator and pressed the button for the Crew Deck and arrived at his destination shortly. Shepard strolled through the mess hall and past the kitchen up the corridor leading to the forward batteries. The deck was eerie quiet and empty, the night shift manned the CIC while the rest slept. Shepard ended up at the door and knocked on it and waited patiently. A few moments the door was opened by a surprised Garrus.

"Shepard." Garrus greeted before he smirked, "You got kicked out of bed?"

Shepard said with half a chuckle, "No I wasn't. I woke up and had trouble falling asleep again, so I thought I'd take you up on heading to the bar. What are you doing up at this hour?"

"Reading a few reports from Palaven." Garrus said glum. "But I'm still adjusting to Earth time. We have 28 hours on Palaven not 24."

"Ah."

"I can take a few drinks with you." Garrus said and walked out of the forward battery.

"Good." Shepard said with a smile and the two headed to the Port Observation in relative silence. Arriving at the Port Observation, Shepard walked past the bar while Garrus took a seat.

"So what will you have Garrus?" Shepard asked.

"A beer will be fine. Turian."

Shepard nodded and turned to the shelf behind him with row after row of bottles. Shepard grabbed a turian bottle of beer and opened the cap with a cap opener and turned to hand it to Garrus.

"Thanks."

Shepard turned and grabbed a bottle of rum and a then a glass from the counter and walked to the other side and took a seat next to Garrus on one of the bar stools.

"Do you know they have encountered Collectors on Palaven?" Garrus said and took a sip from the bottle.

Shepard looked up in surprise, "No. I guess it was too much to ask for believing that we wiped them out last year." Shepard opened the bottle and poured the beverage into the glass he had placed in front of him on the counter.

"Yeah, it probably was. It has been one hell of a ride."

Shepard nodded, "So, what do you think of our odds?" Shepard put away the bottle and took a sip from the glass of rum.

Garrus glanced at Shepard, "We are not alone anymore so I think we have a shot at it. If we play our cards right and get an alliance assembled I think we can pull this off."

"That's very optimistic coming from you Garrus." Shepard mused.

The turian chuckled, "Well you proved me wrong all those times I was pessimistic so I figure it's time to change the tune. And if there's something I learned from C-Sec is that imminent death can motivate people."

"It can also close people up and protect themselves instead of thinking of the greater good."

"I joined C-Sec because I wanted to help people, but instead I was up to my neck in regulations. Thankfully you showed up with a more direct approach John. It's on our plate to get all the others onboard."

Shepard took a sip of rum, "Yeah. Same old same old."

"I know it sucks, but that's how it is, and has been since Sovereign and Saren." Garrus swiped down the rest of the beer.

"Have you heard anything from your dad and sister? You mentioned they were on Palaven."

Garrus shook his head slowly and spoke in a low voice. "No, I haven't heard anything." He put down the bottle on the counter.

"I'm sure they're alright." Shepard tried to assure his friend.

"I'm not big on blind hope Shepard, and it's been a long time since I heard from them."

"I'm sorry Garrus."

Garrus sighed, "It's going to be casualties, that's something we turians are taught from birth." Garrus stood up from the bar stool and walked around the bar and grabbed a new beer from the shelf.

"I have to say that's not a very healthy point of view."

Garrus turned to Shepard and picked up the cap opener from the counter. He shrugged as he removed the cap, "Maybe not to a human, but we're taught to put Palaven first. If there's one survivor standing when this war is over, we have won and the fight was worth it."

"So you haven't adjusted to life on a human vessel yet? This is your third tour." Shepard asked, steering their conversation in a different direction and drank some rum.

Garrus chuckled, "Well, the time difference is a little tough to adjust too, but don't worry I'm well rested for missions. Although I'm amazed you get some sleep at all now a days.

Shepard raised an eyebrow, "What?"

Garrus walked back to the bar stool and chuckled, "You two must be busy _calibrating_ all the time."

"Funny." Shepard responded deadpanned.

"You know that you two are the main topic of gossip amongst the crew right?"

Shepard glanced at Garrus, "Fun for them," Shepard muttered. "And for the record we don't really care what people think of us."

Garrus shrugged, "Just saying. One of the ensigns, Copeland, spilled the beans to me this morning."

"I'm surprised this hasn't been reported by, I don't know, the all seeing and all hearing AI."

_"I was unaware that I should've reported anything of that matter Commander." _EDI chimed in. _"I thought you wanted an open atmosphere onboard the ship."_

"Maybe I should issue new orders." Shepard murmured before he looked up at Garrus, "So you are getting friendly with the crew?"

"Yeah, he's a good kid. He got a lot of questions about our adventures."

"Ah, so you have yourself a fan." Shepard teased.

"Ha, I guess."

"So when are you going to find Mrs. Vakarian? You are not getting any younger." Shepard asked. He had never known Garrus to have even remotely talked about his own love life. Garrus had always implied that relationships had never worked in the past or that he never had time for any long term commitment. There had always been too much interference in his life he said.

Garrus' mandibles twitched as he glanced at Shepard, "Are you saying that Lawson is Mrs. Shepard?"

"Uhm...well...who knows what happens after the war if we all survive." Shepard said cautiously.

"There aren't many turians onboard the Normandy." Garrus observed, deciding not to push the subject.

"Well, there's Liara. Everyone is into the asari."

"I rather be with one I can share the same food with, plus she's into _you_. Or was maybe. And she's a little too closed off since becoming the Shadow Broker."

"She's _not_ into me." Shepard trailed of and pondered before he exclaimed surprised, "Wait! You knew?"

Garrus laughed, "It wasn't that hard to figure out what she felt with all those mind-joining sessions. You are a...what's it called...? Heartbreaker?"

"I'm not!" Shepard blurted defensively.

Garrus chuckled, enjoying hitting Shepard's buttons. He took a sip from his bottle and said, "Liara had it into you. And Williams' is not happy with you anymore. And then it is poor Tali. She was not happy when you ran off with Lawson. Man, can she get angry. Scary I tell you."

"I never felt anything for Tali. It's just a crush, she'll get over it. She's a friend that's it."

"Yeah, you had your eyes set somewhere else. Are there any women you've encountered that have not fallen for the charming Commander Shepard?"

Shepard snorted, "I've had as many successes and failures as any other man, I'm no different." He swiped down the rest of the rum in his glass in frustration of being on the receiving end of Garrus' teasing.

"Well, then all is well balanced in the galaxy I guess. So, it's _that _serious between you and Lawson?"

"I never said that." Shepard poured himself some more rum.

"Right." Garrus said skeptically. "I find it fascinating that you charmed her of all people. She must have taken the _'play-hard-to-get'_-act to a whole other level."

Shepard smirked, "Maybe. Or maybe I'm just that good. In the end she couldn't resist me."

"Uh-huh."

Shepard took a sip of rum, "We'll find a good girl for you Garrus don't you worry. But stay away from the bad ones."

"Yeah? Look who's talking."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean, Lawson must have a mean streak to her. Right?"

"No, not if you get to know her." Shepard paused and pondered before he chuckled, "Well, that depends on what you mean by _'mean streak'_."

Garrus laughed, "I'll bet."

Shepard glanced at Garrus, "You know she is approachable. She's not the same one as she was back in the Cerberus days."

Garrus took a sip from his bottle. "Really?" Garrus asked skeptically.

"Really," Shepard reaffirmed. "It's just friendly reminder."

"Right. I'll keep that in mind."

"You do that." Shepard drank the last rum in his glass. "I think I had enough for tonight." Shepard screwed the cap back on the rum bottle

Garrus tilted his head at the bottle and observed glibly, "Yeah, you drank almost half the bottle. Are you sure you don't have drinking problems?"

"Yeah, I am sure." Shepard chuckled and walked around the bar with the rum bottle in hand and put it up the shelf.

"Well, it's always good talking Shepard." Garrus drank the last of his beer and put down the bottle on the counter.

Shepard nodded and grabbed the two beer bottles and dropped them down the trash bin underneath the counter. The two left the Port Observation quickly and quietly and they strolled through the corridor.

"I'll see you tomorrow Shepard." Garrus said and took a left turn just short of the elevator as Shepard continued onwards.

"Night, Garrus."

* * *

_**Quotes from: Ronin, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune.**_

_**Regarding Adams: I had written some stuff for an encounter between him and Shepard, but it played out exactly as in the game and I felt it dragged down chapter 7 so I removed it prior to uploading that chapter. I've now added a blurb about Shepard talking to Adams in chapter 7 now so the man is present and might show up later.**_

_**Thanks to all those that favorite the story, follows it, reviews it and all those that are lurking.**_

_**Edited (2012-10-18): Found a few mistakes and changed those.  
**_

_****__**Edited (2012-10-19): Fixed a sentence.  
**_

_****__****__****__**Edited (2012-11-03): Small fix regarding Garrus' dialogue on the crew gossiping about Shep/Miri.  
**_


	21. Krogan Pride: Part 1

_"Shepard, we've arrived in the Pranas system." _EDI reported over the intercom in Shepard's quarters.

Shepard was lying face down and moaned annoyed into the pillow when EDI's synthetic voice rang out. He turned his head slightly and watched the clock on the nightstand. He'd slept for five hours since he got back to bed but it actually felt like only ten minutes since he said goodbye to Garrus at the elevator. Next to him he felt Miranda stir.

"Uhm, yes thanks EDI." Shepard blurted out tiredly as he turned his head back into the pillow.

_"The salarian diplomatic ships have hailed us."_ EDI continued.

"Good for them." Shepard mumbled.

_"They're ready for the summit."_

Shepard groaned, "Don't tell me the krogan are here already."

_"No Shepard, they're still an hour and 15 minutes away."_

"Fine. Thank you." _At least I can wake up properly and have some breakfast before official duties._

_"Of course Shepard."_ EDI said and disappeared.

"I think she woke us on purpose." Miranda said drowsily and rolled to her side to face Shepard.

"Wouldn't surprise me. You never know with unshackled AI." Shepard said as he turned to his side and snuck an arm over Miranda's body and pulled her close for a kiss.

"Damn Joker." Miranda said with a grin after they parted.

"Talking about other men in bed makes me jealous." Shepard said with feigned annoyance as he snuggled closer to Miranda and began kissing her jawline and neck.

"Oh, what are you going to do? Punish me?" Miranda countered as she rolled onto her back and moved her head back a bit to expose her neck, enjoying his soft lips on her skin. Her breathing deepened while she explored his neck and back with her hands.

"You know I will. I was denied last night but now I have you exactly were I want you. Naked and on your back." Shepard said in between kisses as he trailed down her neck and one of his hands roamed her body.

"Hmm...no you don't." Miranda said tongue-in-cheek as her biotics flared up and she sent a very small biotic shock into the side of his abdomen from one of her fingers.

Shepard coiled back a bit from Miranda and looked at her surprised, "Ow! What the-?"

Miranda regained control over her senses and breathing, "As inviting as that sounds, we have business to attend to." Miranda slid out of the bed.

Shepard turned on his back admiring the view of her naked body and said cheekily, "You know I'm a better marine if I get some in the morning. I feel lighter on my feet."

Miranda turned to face him and giggled, "You are so cute when you are begging John."

"You are evil, woman." Shepard sighed dejected and shook his head.

Miranda, noticing his reaction didn't want to leave him in doubt, leaned over the bed and kissed Shepard passionately in which he moaned in return. But her actions could very well have made things worse for her lover as he certainly craved more than a just a kiss.

"Business before pleasure John," Miranda said and pulled back a bit and tapped her finger on his wet lips while she gave him a wink, "Later." She turned and walked away from the bed.

"Where are you going?" Shepard asked perplexed.

"A shower." Miranda responded casually and turned to face him.

Shepard smirked and was about to quickly get out of bed when Miranda raised a warning finger as she could see his intentions in his eyes. Miranda grinned mischievously, "I can manipulate stasis fields John."

"God, you are such a tease." Shepard sighed in defeat.

Miranda didn't say anything and merely smirked at him and turned to walk up the stairs, swaying her hips for him.

Shepard groaned, "_That's_ not fair Miranda." and fell back into the bed, "I'm gonna need a cold shower after this."

"I won't be long." He heard Miranda say playfully from the top of the stairs when she disappeared towards the bathroom.

* * *

After a quick breakfast the Normandy was being readied for the diplomatic mission. Victus would attend, negotiating for the turian hierarchy, while Shepard was there as a representative for Earth with extraordinary diplomatic powers from Admiral Hackett to do what was needed to get support for Earth. The diplomatic ships of the krogan and salarians were floating far away from one other. Victus had been coordinating the rendezvous of the ships and the negotiators had all agreed to dock with the Normandy in a quick and timely fashion.

First to dock with the Normandy was the salarian vessel, both Shepard and Victus was waiting on the salarian Dalatrass outside the airlock. Shepard was once again wearing his uniform as he saw it more fitting for a summit of this kind then any BDU. The airlock slid open with a hiss and Dalatrass Linron stepped through. All parties had agreed on arriving on the Normandy unarmed and with no escort, this would hopefully ease the tensions between the salarians and the krogan.

Linron was an ageing salarian, coming from one of the wealthiest bloodlines of Sur'Kesh, often described as the 'queen bee' of that particular bloodline. She was calculated and politically savvy. Having won the election by a narrow margin earlier in the year, her leadership was fairly disputed by her rival, Dalatrass Narra. Linron was dressed in dark robes and her head and horns covered by a hood.

"Commander Shepard." The Dalatrass greeted cordially.

"Madame." Shepard said with a smile, playing the part of a diplomat. Shepard hated with passion dealing with most politicians, but he knew it was necessary. Shepard gestured towards the turian next to him, "This is Primarch Victus."

The two shook hands.

"I'm sorry to hear about Fedorian." Linron said. "He was a great man; I had spoken to him on many occasions in the past."

"Thank you." Victus said and gave the salarian a courteous nod.

From Shepard's right Joker reported from the cockpit, "We have disconnected Commander, heading to the krogan ship. ETA 2 minutes."

"Right, carry on Lieutenant." Shepard said and turned back to the Dalatrass. "Primarch Victus is here to escort you to the Conference Room."

"Alright." Linron turned to the turian, "Shall we?"

"Of course." Victus gave Shepard a nod as he disappeared with the Dalatrass.

Shepard followed them with his eyes and he saw Miranda walking past them in the corridor and headed purposefully towards Shepard.

"Hey." Shepard greeted with a smile.

"Only your friend Urdnot Wrex left?" Miranda asked as she stopped next to Shepard.

"Yeah, we should be there in a few."

"Understood."

"So I'll leave the ship in your very capable hands when the summit starts."

"I'll take good care of her." Miranda said lighthearted. Miranda grinned and leaned closer to his ear and whispered, "I hope you have calmed down?"

Shepard chuckled lightly, "Yes I have. The cold shower did wonders for me."

"Good, you need to be focused during the negotiations." Miranda whispered with mirth in her eyes.

"No problem."

Joker interrupted from the cockpit, "Commander, we're closing up on the krogan ship. Initiating docking procedure." Joker swiped his hands over his interface rapidly, guiding the Normandy in closer towards the krogan diplomatic ship.

"Okay Joker." Shepard responded.

"I'll be on my way." Miranda said and leaned in for a quick kiss which Shepard reciprocated.

Shepard nodded when they parted and Miranda walked down the corridor back from where she came.

The Normandy floated graciously up next to the krogan ship and connected to the docking arm. Shepard waited patiently as their airlock was pressurized and decontaminated before the doors slid open and Urdnot Wrex in his red armor strolled through.

"Wrex." Shepard greeted with a friendly smile extending his hand.

"Shepard." Wrex grinned widely as he shook his friend's hand.

"Welcome onboard the SSV Normandy SR-2." Shepard said as they let go of each other's hands.

"Bigger than the old one." Wrex mused and looked around.

Joker stepped out of the cockpit and walked up, "Wrex, good to see you!"

"Joker, you still around?"

"You know it." The pilot responded excited.

Shepard shrugged and grinned, "He's got an unhealthy relationship with the ship."

Wrex chuckled throatily, "Didn't' he always?"

"Hey!" Joker exclaimed defensively, "It's a marvelous ship. Both this and the old one."

"I'll take your word for it." Wrex said and shook his head.

Shepard turned to Joker, "Disconnect and let's get out of here."

"Roger Commander." Joker said and turned to Wrex before he walked back into the cockpit. "It's good to see you again Wrex. The Normandy isn't the same without a huge krogan roaming the corridors."

Wrex laughed as he watched the pilot returning to his seat.

"This way Wrex." Shepard said and motioned with his arm for Wrex to follow him.

_Let's hope this doesn't start another war._

* * *

The moment Shepard had brought Wrex into the conference room the temperature dropped to icy cold and it didn't take long until the Dalatrass and Wrex exchanged frosty glares. Shepard took place on the end of the table with Wrex on the long side of the table in front of Linron. Shepard looked at Victus on the other side of the table who looked increasingly tenser.

"Alright," Shepard said cautiously, wondering what exactly would happen. "Let's begin this summit-"

"I don't even know what I'm doing in the same room with a krogan," Linron interrupted ruefully before she shouted, "Just remember that you are in no position to make any demands here, krogan!"

_Oh this is just great! _ Shepard shook his head, trying his best to suppress a sigh.

Wrex snorted angrily, "This krogan has a name; it's Urdnot Wrex. And the krogan people are not some disposable servants to be used to kill for the salarians and the turians!"

Linron shook her head and threw out her arms in exasperation.

Wrex took on a more foreboding and calmer demeanor, reflecting on his own situation, "And I have problems of my own. I'm getting reports of Reapers on Tuchanka."

"That's why we have to work together." Shepard tried to talk some sense into the increasingly volatile situation.

Wrex glanced at Victus, "So with that in mind, what does it matter to me if some turians and salarians are wiped out?"

Victus sighed tiredly, "We don't have time for stalling these talks Wrex. The war will affect everyone eventually so just tell us what you want and let's get over with it."

Wrex turned his attention to Linron who had crossed her arms angrily and narrowed her eyes on the krogan in front of her.

"Cure the genophage and we will fight with you against the Reapers." Wrex explained slowly, looking directly at the Dalatrass.

Linron's eyes shot up in surprise and she declared with a hard voice. "Never! That is unacceptable. You were a mistake and curing the solution will unleash the krogan horde on the galaxy again!"

Wrex slammed his fist into the table; creating small cracks in the material were his fist crashed down. Wrex spoke sternly with anger slipping through his voice, "We're not a mistake."

Shepard thought for a second that Wrex would leap over the table and hurl himself at the salarian but to his relief nothing happened.

Shepard cleared his throat and looked at Linron, "What's your objection to curing the genophage, Dalatrass?"

"We uplifted them, the salarians will always have a special understanding of the krogan, and by keeping the krogan in check we will spare the galaxy of another krogan rebellion." Linron explained tensely.

Shepard tried not to clench his teeth to what he felt was an utterly arrogant statement that the salarians had an understanding of the krogan, instead Shepard remained neutral. His talks with Mordin the year before had opened his eyes even more to the plight of the krogan and felt that they didn't deserve that punishment anymore. Didn't they deserve a second chance? They were sapient beings and could learn from the past. Or at least he hoped they could lean. With proper leadership the krogan could prosper and be a part of the galactic community. And if Wrex was in power and shepherded the krogan in the right direction they could become a very valuable part of the galactic community.

And they certainly needed the krogan horde fighting the Reapers.

But he also saw a lingering threat if some krogan wanted revenge for the past.

"My ancestors were used by the salarians to fight a war that no one else could win!" Wrex retorted angrily. "The ones that won against the rachni weren't asari, salarians or turians. It was won by the krogan blood that was spilled. You used us and tossed us aside!"

Linron sneered and pointed directly at Wrex, "Because you ceased to be useful. The genophage is the only way to keep your blood thirsty and violent ways in check. You can't be trusted!"

Wrex narrowed his eyes in anger, glaring at the Dalatrass. Wanting nothing but to rip apart the lizard.

Victus broke the tension looking at Linron, "Dalatrass, You may not like Wrex but insulting him won't get you anywhere."

Linron snorted and waved off Victus, "I'm not apologizing to this brute for speaking the truth. The krogan was uplifted to do one thing and one thing only, run blind through the killing fields and kill the rachni."

"We're not getting anywhere by shouting at each other," Shepard began and tried to defuse the situation, "You are too focused on the future to pay attention to what's happening now, we won't have a future if we don't stop the Reapers. The success of the war relies on a unified galactic alliance; no one will be able to oppose the Reapers on their own. We need each other."

"It appears I'm the only one that cares about the future after the war Commander." Linron said annoyed. "The krogan will certainly fight the Reapers but what will happen after the war? They will be left standing in great numbers and can overrun the other races."

Shepard spoke, remembering what Mordin had told him once, "Uplifting the krogan was like giving nuclear weapons to cavemen; of course it was to backfire. Your people miscalculated the entire situation."

"That's what I mean Commander." Linron surprisingly pleaded, "We didn't think matters through and look what happened. But during the Rachni War that the situation was so dire that we turned to the krogan in desperation. We were running out of options."

"We are running out of options as well. How long ago were the Rebellions? Ten years ago?" Shepard asked rhetorically. "No, it was well over 1000 years ago and you are talking about it like it was yesterday."

Linron frowned, "Are you actually taking the krogan side? Then you are about to make the same mistake we did."

Shepard sighed, "Look, the war has us all under a lot of stress to protect our own interests and people. But we're all in this together; the Reapers will exterminate every single one of us."

"Yes, we're all in this together, I recognize that Commander. But curing the genophage will put us all at harm. As it is now, their birth rates are being kept at a low level which in return doesn't threaten the rest of the galaxy as an explosion of newborn krogan would." Linron explained sternly.

"The krogan have paid for their mistakes by now. You don't think they've suffered long enough?"

"One thousand, four hundred and seventy-six years. If you are keeping track." Wrex stated.

Linron spat, waving her arm at Wrex, "And it has been peace all that time from these brutes!"

Victus interrupted tired of the bickering, "Enough! This is an academic question, it would take years, if not decades to cure the genophage."

Wrex turned to Victus, "No, that's not what my sources are telling me." The krogan walked over to Victus side of the table.

_Sources?_ Shepard raised an eyebrow. _The only one even close to curing the genophage was Maelon. We ended those sick experiments and Mordin took a copy of the cure with us. Either Wrex acquired that data or he's working with Mordin._

Wrex brusquely motioned for Victus to step aside from the end table which he did. Wrex turned on the computer that was situated there and then he brought up his omni-tool and pressed a few buttons to link them together and stream information.

_"Shepard,"_ EDI chimed in. _"There are attempts made from the Conference Room to link our systems with an unidentified omni-tool."_

"Let Wrex through." Shepard ordered.

_"Of course." _EDI paused for a few moments and reported, _"It's done."_

Wrex began talking as both his omni-tool and the computer began interfacing, "There was a salarian scientist on Tuchanka last year, he wanted to do some experiments on our females in order to begin crafting a cure for the genophage. He wanted my help but he wanted krogan subjects to experiment on so I declined."

"Those tests were barbaric." Shepard said and remembered the mission on Tuchanka.

The wall behind wrex flickered to life as it projected information from his omni-tool. The others in attendance turned and watched the wall-projection coming to life.

The Dalatrass was wondering where this was going. She'd supervised a mission to mop-up the mess on Tuchanka after STG learned of Maelon's attempt to cure the genophage. _The krogan couldn't possibly know, right?_

"He went to one of my rivaling clans instead. There were countless dead, both krogan females who volunteered...and humans kidnapped. But some krogan females survived the experiments." Wrex turned to face the wall.

Grainy film footage was displayed what looked like the inside of some facility. A salarian in a uniform walked by tinkering with his omni-tool and the footage began to move, it was apparent that it was someone holding a small camera faming inside corridor leading into a large hall of some sort. The camera man walked onwards and ended in the middle of the hall near a holographic screen. The unknown camera man panned his camera and shot footage of several holding pods in frontof him containing what looked like krogan.

As the footage was rolling, Wrex commented with a stern voice, "So after Shepard's actions against that clan, the Dalatrass sent a cleanup team to cover it all up and they found the females alive. So the salarian team captured them."

Linron exclaimed in surprised anger, "Where did you get this?" Then she began to shout defensively, "This footage is faked by the krogan!" _How did the brute know of this?_

Wrex turned to face the Dalatrass and snarled back, "Do not insult me! Those are my people, they're immune to the genophage, and I want them returned! Alive."

For the first time the Dalatrass was taken back and didn't respond. She began to look increasingly horrified as the seconds ticked by.

Victus stepped forward from behind Wrex, "Is this true Dalatrass?"

Linron mumbled, "How will curing the genophage benefit my people?"

Shepard spoke from the other end of the table, "If you don't put the past where it belongs there won't be a future left to worry about. You are making a similar mistake Cerberus is; the Illusive Man's actions are threatening our victory and survival, and so are yours."

Linron's head snapped to Shepard and she glared at him. "What? Do not compare the salarians to your human terrorists!"

"I'm not Dalatrass. What you are doing is jeopardizing our survival which should be paramount, but is currently suffering a setback because of your narrow interests that aren't viable because they're not beneficial to the war effort. The war has barely started and the turians are losing Palaven and according to the Primarch, without the krogan they can't defend their homeworld. Earth is already burning Dalatrass, and anything without the turian fleet is suicide. Right now humanity, the turians and the krogan need each other and you are stalling the war effort. Don't hold your breath Dalatrass, because sooner rather than later, Sur'Kesh will need us." Shepard explained calmly.

Linron turned to Shepard and cried out, "We can fight the Reapers without the krogan!"

Shepard continued unfazed by Linron's outburst, "The Illusive Man is so blind that he seems to be willing to gamble the fate of trillions of organics in order to fulfill his insatiable hunger for power. Your motivations are clearly different from Cerberus; you may even consider your efforts noble, but by not curing the genophage our victory is at stake. You are just as blind as Cerberus and the end result will be the same."

"But by curing the genophage Commander, we are jeopardizing our future!" Linron argued.

"You are willing to give up on the might of the krogan horde, perhaps our potentially greatest ally in the war, because you are preoccupied with petty grudges or worrying about a future we may never have. How far will you go? Is it worth too risk see everything we know turn into ashes to stop this cure?"

Linron cried out angrily, "If the genophage is cured Commander, the krogan armies will march all over the face of Sur'Kesh! Do you understand me? Your people never experienced the Krogan Rebellion, the cure will threaten our future!"

Shepard's temper flared up, "What future? Have you even listened to me? How long do you think the salarians will last against the Reapers alone? Think about that for a change. If you don't get your act together and help us, _that_ is what's going to happen!"

Linron's eyes widened and she snarled, "Are you threatening me Commander?"

From behind her Victus spoke sternly, "I'll be the last friendly turian you'll ever see. We won't come to your aid Dalatrass. You'll be on your own."

Linron was getting cornered; she was running out of options. Even she could see that the salarian planets would be overrun by the Reapers when they eventually arrived. Without the most potent militaries aiding her, the Salarian Union would be gone.

After several moments Shepard asked calmly, "What will it be?"

Linron looked down and shook her head, "The females are being kept at a secret STG-facility."

"Were?"

"On Sur'Kesh."

"Great, right next door. We should be there half an hour." Shepard said cocky.

Wrex chuckled throatily.

Linron snapped and turned to Shepard, pointing her finger at him. "I warn you Commander, the consequences of your actions will be felt for generations to come!"

Shepard walked past the table with anger in his eyes and ended up face to face with the Dalatrass, something she was not ready for. "If the Reapers win we're all dead and I'm not going to let you stop me. Stand aside or step in line!"

Linron spat back gesturing dismissively with her arm, "You are not setting foot on Sur'Kesh! We'll need to prepare for the transfer-"

This time Victus walked up to Linron, "No! No more stalling Dalatrass. Shepard is a Council SPECTRE; he'll oversee the transfer of the captives."

Linron was fuming with anger. Being talked down by some human that should treat her with respect, and then Victus was taking his side?! She couldn't believe it. She brushed past Shepard and walked towards the exit of the glass encased Conference Room.

The Dalatrass turned to Shepard, "I won't forget this human! A bully has few friends when he needs them the most!"

"The coordinates?" Shepard asked unfazed.

Linron tapped her omni-tool.

"_We're receiving coordinates Commander."_ EDI reported.

After that Linron turned and stormed out.

Shepard took a deep breath calmed down. Shepard shrugged and said sardonically, "So much for diplomacy." He called out for the AI, "EDI, tell Garrus and Liara to head down to the cargo bay ASAP and prepare for a mission. And where is Miranda?"

_"In the CIC, Commander."_

"Good have her meet me outside."

_"Yes Commander."_

Wrex turned to Shepard, "I want to be there, Shepard. I want to see that everything is alright with the females."

"This is a delicate situation Wrex, can you keep calm and don't start a war?"

Victus chuckled disapprovingly, "I think Urdnot Wrex was more diplomatic then you Commander."

Wrex laughed bellowing and turned to Victus, "At least there's something we can agree on, turian." Wrex turned to Shepard, "Not that I don't approve."

Shepard figured Wrex wouldn't take no for an answer so he nodded, "Yeah, you can come."

* * *

Wrex walked behind Shepard as they exited the checkpoint and entered the CIC. A black haired woman approached Shepard.

"Commander. You wanted to see me?"

Shepard stopped in front of her, "Yes, we have a mission. You remember Maelon and his experiments, Miranda?"

Wrex leaned on his back against the wall behind Shepard and observed the two humans. The woman nodded.

"It seems there were successes as several krogan females are not immune to the genophage and was taken by the salarians and are kept at a classified STG base on Sur'Kesh. We're going in to oversee the transfer of the females to Wrex."

"I see. That explains why the Dalatrass stormed out angry. She's over at the airlock waiting for us to dock with her ship."

Shepard glanced down the corridor to the cockpit were Linron was pacing around.

"Yeah, things didn't work out as smooth as I had wished for, but that was expected. I had EDI order Liara and Garrus to the cargo bay, we're going groundside immediately."

"You want me to come along?"

Shepard nodded.

"Okay."

Shepard turned to Wrex, "Wrex lets head to the cargo bay and prepare." Shepard motioned with his arm towards the elevator.

Wrex nodded and followed. Shepard pressed a button on the elevator's interface and the door slid open and they entered.

"We'll have to fetch our armors Wrex." Shepard said and turned to the krogan and then pointed at a button on the elevator controls. "Just press this button and the elevator will take you down to the cargo bay."

"Alright Shepard." Wrex answered wondering where Shepard and the female would go, but he remained impassive.

Shepard pressed another button and the elevator ascended. They soon arrived at their new destination and the two humans quickly left the elevator when the doors opened. Wrex could read _'Captain's Cabin' _on the wall outside the elevator. He quickly put two and two together; if the woman followed him up it appeared that Shepard was together with this unknown woman. Although he did scarcely remember her presence on Tuchanka last year. It slightly piqued his curiosity as last time Wrex remembered Shepard had been with Williams. But Wrex had other more important matters on his mind and he didn't bother thinking on it further and shelved it.

The doors closed and Wrex pressed the button Shepard had shown and the elevator descended through the Normandy.

Wrex wanted the females returned to Clan Urdnot. Their immunity to the genophage could usher a new future for the krogan. It would also give Clan Urdnot unprecedented power and making it easier in rallying those clans that hadn't done so already around Clan. And it was the only hope they had in curing the genophage.

Seeing Shepard railing the salarian made Wrex's day and having the first human SPECTRE standing up for the krogan people was even better. But Wrex couldn't or wouldn't take the small victory for granted as he fully expected the salarians to stall everything, and he wouldn't commit the krogan people to the war before the genophage was cured. Wrex needed that assurance before he did anything, he might trust Shepard, but he didn't trust the other races. Especially the salarians.

The elevator stopped a few moments later, he thought he was at the cargo bay already but the deck indicator read _'Crews Quarters'_. The elevator door opened and revealed two of his old comrades in arms, Liara and the only turian he even remotely liked, Garrus. They were both in combat armors.

"Wrex, it's good to see you." Liara said friendly as she stepped in with Garrus in the elevator.

"Just like the old days Wrex." Garrus greeted.

The door closed and the elevator continued descending.

Wrex allowed himself to chuckle, "Yeah, it takes me back to simpler times."

"Well, maybe now it seems simple, but it was tough back then." Garrus said and leaned against the wall.

Wrex nodded and grunted.

"So, what happend during the negotiations?" Liara asked. "EDI relayed orders from Shepard that we have a mission and wanted us ready."

"I'll let Shepard explain."

"Where is he?" Garrus asked.

"He and some female are gathering their armors." Wrex explained.

Garrus nodded.

The rest of the short ride down was done in silence. The elevator stopped and the door opened and they exited.

Wrex looked around and took in the new sights. It was certainly bigger than the cargo hold of the old Normandy. There were crates, boxes and lockers all around the walls near the elevator and there were work benches and tables of computers in front of him and he saw another work bench in the corner to his right and he also saw some human who was in a rush working on a shuttle. There were a few other crewmembers present preparing the shuttle.

Liara and Garrus walked to the left of the doors to some lockers and retrieved several weapons.

Another human, who to Wrex's standards were quite big, emerged from a set of stacked crates near the left wall and approached Liara and Garrus.

"Hey Scars, what's going on? Esteban is prepping the shuttle for action and EDI is not very coopartive."

"We got a mission. Shepard will be here soon to give a brief." Garrus said preoccupied with stuffing his pouches with thermal clips and grenades.

"Alright, I'll prepare."

"Were you relayed orders by EDI?" Garrus turned towards Vega before he had the opportunity to run away.

"No I didn't hear anything."

"Then wait for Shepard and see what he says."

Vega frowned and leaned on a wall and grumbled, "Right."

Wrex walked closer to Liara and Garrus and observed them retrieving their weapons. The asari grabbed a submachine gun and a pistol while Garrus took a M3 pistol and some strange looking rifles. Most likely of turian design as Wrex had never seen such weapons before.

A few minutes passed by and the elevator door opened and Shepard with his female emerged in combat armor. Liara and Garrus closed their lockers and walked up to Shepard.

"Care to fill us in Shepard?" Garrus asked.

Shepard explained the situation with the krogan females that were being held in an STG facility on Sur'Kesh.

"So we're going to supervise their handover to Wrex?" Liara asked.

"Yeah that's the deal."

"Do we even need guns?"

"We need to backup my SPECTRE status fully armed otherwise the salarians might stall further."

"Should I prepare Loco?" Vega asked from the wall.

Shepard shook his head and glanced at the marine, "No I need you here James."

"Huh?" He straightened himself up from the wall and walked over.

"I need an officer onboard the ship as I'm taking Miranda with me."

"Right, but Joker-" Vega began to protest.

"Go, it's an order James. Head to the CIC and just keep a presence. Get to know Joker a little. It'll be a good learning experience being in charge while I'm gone."

"Yes Commander." Vega conceeded.

Shepard smirked, "Good, don't do anything stupid while I'm gone."

Vega shook his head at Shepard's comment. He walked over to the elevator and took it up to the CIC deck.

"We're ready to go Commander, just say the word." A voice called out from the shuttle.

"Right, good work Cortez." Shepard turned to Liara and Garrus, "If you two are ready, head to the shuttle."

Liara and Garrus nodded and hurried over to the shuttle as Cortez headed inside the cockpit.

"I'm not going unarmed." Wrex declared staring at Shepard.

Shepard turned to Wrex, "Ah, they're not going to like a fully armed krogan there Wrex."

"I don't' trust these lizards, I'm not going unarmed." Wrex growled.

"I'm not giving you a weapon, let me handle this Wrex. We'll get your females out of there." Shepard insisted.

Wrex snorted annoyed.

Shepard sighed, "How about I carry an extra weapon for you? It'll go a lot smoother if you are unarmed."

Wrex glanced at Shepard and thought things over. He wanted the females back from those pyjaks and didn't have time to argue with Shepard. Wrex finally murmured, "Fine, bring me a shotgun." He was a biotic after all and a bunch of squishy salarians were no match for him.

Shepard nodded and motioned for Wrex to follow him to the lockers were he opened a large locker filled with several different variants of shotguns. Wrex scrutinized the selection hanging on the racks and settled on a shotgun he was familiar with, the Scimitar.

"That one." Wrex said plainly.

Shepard picked it up and fastened it on his harness. He pointed at another crate labeled _'thermal clips'_, "You can load up on clips there."

Wrex nodded and walked away from the lockers and opened the crate and started filling his pouches and pockets with clips that was stacked inside the crate. Behind him he heard Shepard and the woman open some lockers and they grabbed some personal weapons and thermal clips of their own in relative silence.

"You ready Wrex?" Shepard asked a few minutes later as he closed the locker.

Wrex turned, "I am. I don't want to die of old age before I get there so let's move."

Shepard nodded and they headed towards the waiting shuttle.

In the speakers they heard the AI announce, _"Stand by, barrier curtain erected. Hangar bay doors will open momentarily for shuttle departure."_

* * *

The Kodiak shuttle flew out through the barrier curtain that protected the cargo bay from the confines of space and it accelerated away from the Normandy which was about to dock with the salarian diplomatic ship. Cortez piloted the Kodiak and plotted a course to Sur'Kesh. EDI had forwarded Cortez the coordinates to the classified STG base. Ten minutes later the Kodiak entered the planet's atmosphere; the shuttle's ablative heat shield protected the shuttle from the excessive heat load as it pressed through the atmosphere. Soon the Kodiak soared through the clouds onwards to the coordinates that Cortez and punched into the navigation computer. As soon as they entered the atmosphere they had instantly been tracked by ground based radars and Cortez received several calls from radar operators asking for their intentions, only when Shepard had entered the cockpit and sent his SPECTRE credentials did the radar operators cease hailing, but the salarian radars still tracked them.

Cortez glanced at Shepard's load of weapons which included his standard Phalanx pistol and a shotgun; he also carried one of the Harrier rifles. His commander didn't wear a helmet this time, and neither did any of the others. Seeing as it was a transfer of prisoners at a classified salarian facility they didn't expect to see any action.

"I see you have taken one of the Harrier's." Cortez stated.

"Yeah, this one was in my locker so I figured it was ready for action."

"Yeah, I installed a new barrel giving increased range, and I added a four times optic."

Shepard nodded, "Yeah I saw that one."

"It's a thermal scope so you can see the heat signatures of bodies through smoke and thin walls."

Shepard smirked and said approvingly, "Nice."

"It'll give you better situational awareness. Anything to give you an edge."

Shepard patted Cortez on the shoulder. "I appreciate it. ETA to the base?"

Cortez glanced at the waypoint information page on one of his screens, "Two minutes."

"Understood." Shepard turned and walked into the passenger compartment and saw Wrex standing up looking anxious. Shepard spoke, "Alright, this is the salarian home world and one of their classified bases, we need to thread cautiously as they are probably not used to krogans in their homes."

Wrex snorted, "We are here to get the females back and I won't accept them stalling."

"Easy there Wrex, we will get them, you just need to trust me and let me handle this. We go in, get those females and take off as fast as we can before anyone on base changes their mind."

"Won't surprise me if they do. I don't trust a single word coming from those lizards."

"Let diplomacy play out here Wrex. You'll get what you want." Shepard insisted.

"Those females down there are probably the only hope my race has of getting rid of the genophage. The last hope before we're extinct."

Liara rose from her seat in front of Wrex and said reassuringly, "We will get them back Wrex."

Wrex nodded thankful of her words, "I appreciate that Liara. I wouldn't want anyone else along for the ride."

Garrus cleared his throat from one of the corners near the shuttle door drawing Wrex's attention to his presence. He rose up from his seat and watched Wrex.

Wrex turned to Garrus and shrugged, "You are lucky I like you Garrus. That's why I let you come along."

Garrus chuckled, "You have gone soft sitting up on that throne of yours looking down on your subjects. Can you even shoot a gun now a days?"

Wrex laughed and mock-threatened Garrus, "Be careful for what you wish for Vakarian. You just point and shoot."

"Commander, we're on approach to the salarian base." Cortez called out from the cockpit.

"Copy that Lieutenant."

* * *

The Kodiak flew in low over the lush jungles. The base was surrounded by several high peaks on a plateau shrouded in clouds with a cascading waterfall were the water descended a series or rocky steps pouring down around the large multi-story base structures imbedded in the mountains. Cortez flew the shuttle to a landing platform and fired it's thrusters to slow it down. The Kodiak slowly hovered a few meters above the platform creating a blanket of dust around it as the thrusters kicked up the dust from the ground.

"Sir, ground control says we're not cleared to land." Cortez reported.

Shepard walked in the cockpit surprised, "Well, tell them we're on SPECTRE business."

"I have sir; I'm squawking your codes on the transmitter."

"Tell them we have Dalatrass Linron's authorization."

Wrex spat angrily from the compartment, "I knew we couldn't trust the salarians Shepard!" Wrex had enough of the salarians trying to stall him retrieving the females. Diplomacy had clearly failed; he needed to show them he didn't take lightly on their actions. "Let's see them trying to stop a krogan airdrop."

Wrex stepped past Garrus on his way to the shuttle door and pressed the button to open the door.

"Eh, Shepard?" Garrus called out surprised as he watched Wrex at the exit.

Shepard turned away and hurried out into the passenger compartment and cried out, "Wrex, don't jump out!" But Shepard's pleading was in vain

Wrex was out the door and came crashing down on the platform below them as soon as the door had opened.

Inside the Kodiak Shepard and the others stepped up to the opening and watched Wrex land below them.

"He's very tactful." Miranda commented sarcastically as she watched the events unfold below them next to Shepard and the others.

The giant krogan picked him up from the hard landing as several salarian guards swarmed the platform.

The team leader rushed towards Wrex and shouted into his omni-tool radio transmitter, "We have a security breach! Lock it down! Lock it down!"

Wrex shouted back, "And who authorized you to hold my race hostage?!"

The team leader and his two guards surrounded Wrex and reached for their _'Sick Sticks' _from their harnesses_, a_ collapsible baton used for crowd control that makes a target spontaneously vomit when its electrical current is fired into the body upon contact with the baton itself.

But Wrex reacted quicker than his opponents. His biotics flared up and he hurled away the three salarians with a very weak biotic surge, the salarians hit the wall behind them and slid down on the floor unconscious but beyond that they were not seriously harmed.

Wrex was about to move further into the complex when more guards showed up and took up position in front of him, using walls and other obstacles as cover. But these guards were not carrying batons, they were armed with assault rifles and the krogan stopped in his tracks, viciously glaring at the guard contingent in front of him.

Shepard jumped down from the Kodiak with the three others in tow, he decided not to draw his weapon as it could inflame the situation further and he had ordered the others not to draw weapons either. Everything was going from bad to worse in a heartbeat. Shepard rushed quickly to Wrex's side.

"Stop, do not move further or we will open fire!" Shouted one of the guards as loud as he could so he could be heard over the engine noise from the shuttle. The man was aiming a M37 grenade-launcher at Shepard's team as they stopped near Wrex.

"Don't do anything stupid Wrex." Shepard pleaded under his breath.

Wrex snorted agitated.

From further in front of them, behind the armed guards, they heard a new voice shouting, "Hold your fire! Do not engage!"

The armed guards watched curiously as a man in a black uniform ran past them towards Shepard and his team. The guards did not lower their weapons and kept them trained on the targets in front of them.

"Commander Shepard, please restrain your colleague!" The man tried to shield his face with his arm from the dust being kicked up by the thrusters. The man continued to shout, "We just received word about the transfer a moment ago Commander!"

Shepard shouted back, "Let's disarm the situation, I'm not here to start a diplomatic incident!"

"I concur Commander."

Shepard walked past Wrex and towards the unknown salarian.

"You have to understand my associate, he's very protective of the krogan people and you have something here that he wants."

"Something worth dying for." Wrex drawled.

Shepard turned his head at Wrex and shouted annoyed, "Enough Wrex!"

"This situation can be solved if we can keep him under guard." The salarian insisted.

Wrex grunted under his breath and narrowed his eyes on the salarian.

Shepard said, "I'm a Council SPECTRE and I'll keep him under control."

"I fail to see-"

"I insist on that. He'll behave. You have my word."

The salarian pondered the SPECTRE's words but said nothing.

"Look, if it was any other day I'd love to discuss who's right and who's wrong, but it doesn't matter now. I have extraordinary authority by the Citadel Council and you don't have the authority to tell me what to do. Surely you respect SPECTRE authority." Shepard said in a more mildly manner.

"We will keep him under armed escort at all times." The salarian stated and pointed at Wrex.

"That's only fair." Shepard said and turned to Wrex, "Can you keep calm now? We will get the females out of here quickly if you let me do this."

"If something happens all bets are off." Wrex warned.

Shepard sighed tiredly, "Can't you see I'm on your side here Wrex? Wise up and we will have this finished soon enough."

Wrex mumbled something under his breath as several armed guards walked up behind him, but kept a respectable distance.

Shepard turned to the salarian again, "Can you have my pilot land?"

The salarian nodded and talked into his omni-tool, "Tell the pilot he can land."

A few moments later the Kodiak descended on the platform and everything suddenly became quieter as the engines turned off. They could hear the flowing water from the waterfall below and the unmistakable sounds of the jungle surrounding them. It was suddenly very peaceful.

The salarian breathed relived and introduced himself, "I'm Padok Wiks, if you and your entourage could follow me Commander we will have you processed." Wiks motioned with his arm for them to follow him.

"Lead the way."

Shepard and the others with several armed guards following Wrex's every move as they walked down a corridor with Wiks in front.

"With the war looming everyone's on edge Commander, I hope you understand."

"I certainly do."

They arrived at a staircase leading down to the processing area and stopped a large hall with a cargo lift at the end. The hall itself was dotted with several workstations with salarians manning them. In the roof there was a rail system attached that had lifted up a cargo pod with a yagh inside protected by a containment shield. The yagh itself was furious and stumbled about inside trying to maintain his balance. The pod was moved across the length of the room and carefully set down inside a paddock on the floor at the edge of the area.

Liara shook her head at the sight, "I was hoping I never had to see one of those things again."

Garrus watched the angry yahg moving about inside and quipped, "Someone woke up on the wrong side of the pod."

Liara let out half a chuckle at Garrus.

Shepard glanced at Wiks and raised an eyebrow, "A yahg?"

"This is a biogenetic research station Commander; it contains a lot of sensitive information." Wiks stated evenly and turned to Shepard.

Shepard skeptically, "Can I even ask what goes on around here?"

"In broad strokes? Evolutionary trials. Morphological situations. Exogenetic assessments. I'm afraid that's all I can say, and I have said too much already."

Shepard shook his head slightly, "Nothing's ever simple with you guys is it?"

Wiks shrugged, "Science has always been our best defense Commander. What we have done here have kept Sur'Kesh safe for millennia."

Miranda walked up and stopped next to Shepard and took in the scenery. Her scientific mind was amazed by it all, "I can't even begin to tell you how fascinating this is."

Shepard turned to Miranda and teased deadpanned, "Anthropologist fascinating or actual fascinating?"

Miranda turned to Shepard and looked at him astonished, and teased, "That you even know what anthropologist means is very fascinating indeed."

"I have my moments." Shepard said with a sly smile.

Wiks looked curiously at the two humans and their banter.

Shepard turned his attention to Wiks, "And all this includes scientific tests on krogan as well?"

"When we found them on Tuchanka the females were not in good condition Commander. They were dehydrated, some showed signs of diminished cognitive abilities because of tumors in their brains and they had severe damages to their circulatory system and the digestive system. We brought them here so we could help them." Wiks explained.

"Well, I would like to have them handed over so we can get out of here as soon as possible. For everyone's sake."

Wiks dropped his head for a slight second before he looked up and nodded slowly, "I'll have to clear you for the lower level." He glanced at Wrex, "You will have the escort following you if you insist on bringing your colleague."

"Damn straight I'm coming." Wrex thundered from behind them, "I want to see to my people."

"Come see me near the elevator in a few minutes Commander." Wiks evenly said and walked down the steps.

Miranda closed the distance to Shepard and allowed herself to whisper into his ear, "I find it extremely sexy when you try and be smart around me and use big words."

Shepard chuckled, "If that's the case, then it's time for me to read my first book." He then playfully nudged her shoulder, "But that's not very professional of you Miranda. We're on a mission."

Miranda shrugged and gave him a slight sexy smile before she put on her professional face.

"So this is the salarian home world?" Wrex had turned and asked his escort indignantly. "No wonder you are all so squishy and soft when you are busy writing poetry about waterfalls."

Shepard walked over to Wrex, "At least you are not throwing them around." He glanced at the three salarians that Wrex had knocked out earlier. They had been attended by several medics at the landing platform for some time now.

Wrex turned to Shepard and snorted, "If I wanted to kill them I would have. But I didn't."

"Considerate of you. Will I regret bringing you with me Wrex?" Shepard asked. "Let's try and fight one war at a time instead, shall we?"

"If I had put any weight behind it all they would have been dead." Wrex turned and glanced at the guards behind him. They were not aiming their weapons at him and instead they held the rifles close to their chests. Wrex spat indignantly, "I prefer my salarian livers served raw!"

The assembled guards frowned angrily at Wrex.

"Very diplomatic indeed." Miranda mused next to Shepard.

Garrus shrugged, "I hear the vorcha eats them grilled."

Wrex laughed throatily as he turned to Garrus, "That's not as good a taste Garrus."

Shepard sighed and motioned with his arm towards the balcony a few meters away from the others, it was overlooking the waterfall below, "Can I have a word with you Clan Leader?"

Wrex snorted and nodded and followed Shepard and they ended up at the balcony. The guards remained at their position watching Wrex. Miranda, Liara and Garrus stayed behind.

"What is it Shepard?" Wrex asked displeased as he leaned on the wall in front of him.

"Look, you can't be going on like this, you have to behave." Shepard implored leaning on his side against the low wall.

"These pyjaks have held down the krogan long enough." Wrex murmured.

"I understand how you feel; I really do, but let diplomacy have a chance here. If you just had waited a few more minutes we would have landed and we could have avoided a lot of trouble. The salarians aren't the only ones that have held down the krogan, you have been pretty good at doing that yourselves."

Wrex grumbled under his breath.

"You have a great opportunity here that no krogan leader ever had in the past. Don't squander it. If you do this right not only will the cure be treated, but you will have the opportunity to usher the krogan into a new age. Isn't that what you want?"

"Yes." Wrex murmured.

"The asari aren't here because they think there's too much bad blood between the krogan and the salarians. If you avoid as much confrontation as possible, you will be seen as the bigger person and this could get you respect while the salarians will be seen as unreasonable. You saw how Linron behaved."

Wrex glanced curiously at Shepard with a raised eye.

"Just recently Victus was ready to sever diplomatic ties with the salarians to help you. Yes, he wants the krogan horde to help his forces at Palaven, but we're already changing things around now. Believe it or not, the turians can turn out to be allies to the krogan."

Wrex let out a loud laughter that drew the other's eyes to them. He shook his head.

"I'm serious. There has been a lot of animosity between humans and turians since after First Contact. Most people in the Alliance viewed the turians with mistrust, and yet we built the first Normandy together. A turian wanted to make me first human SPECTRE, and now it seems they are our greatest ally."

Wrex gazed at the complex on the other side of the valley and then he turned to Shepard, "That's easy for you to say. How exactly did they wrong you? A few destroyed ships? A couple of thousand casualties? They used my people as cannon fodder to win a war they could not win themselves, and then they threw aside my people when they didn't need them anymore. What guarantee do I have, when this is over, they won't do the same again? I need assurances Shepard."

Shepard frowned a little, "The death of humans in First Contact is certainly no trivial matter, but I see your point. What the krogan experienced with the genophage is incomparable, but your people wronged others _before _the genophage was imposed on you. The salarians and the turians were not motivated by altruism when they uplifted you, but you were not exactly innocent after the Rachni War. You expanded aggressively onto worlds already claimed by others. You attempted to settle an asari world and the Citadel wanted you to leave and what did the krogan representative do? He dared the Council to attack them. And then there was a war."

Wrex sighed aggravated. "I know Shepard."

"Wrex, they are cautious because the krogan have never showed any other tendency but violence. The salarians gave you new technologies that you could have used to uplift yourselves, but what did your ancestors do? They built weapons instead and eventually used that technology in a war against the Citadel. You threw asteroids on turian planets, reducing them to barren worlds. However you look at it there are two sides at fault here, and you have a chance to show that the Krogan can be a part of a galactic community."

"The genophage made the krogan even more destructive. But it seems perfectly fine for the other races as long as we are only killing each other." Wrex contemplated solemnly.

"To me it seems you were pretty good at it before as well. Look, I'm not asking you to help us because we need you, but because we need each other. And just think about what a great chance this is for your people. For Clan Urdnot. With passing time more people seem to think that you are victims, that the genophage might be wrong, as your contact here is a testament to that." Shepard tilted his head towards the elevator in the processing area. "This is your redemption; by helping in the fight against the Reapers, the krogan will earn a lot of favor amongst the other races which will stop them from unleashing another genophage. Everything is in your hands now; you can forge your destiny by either resurrecting the glory of the krogan or you lead them in their downfall."

"It's hard to think about the _'bigger picture' _when I look at that Dalatrass spewing hatred. And then the asari refused to attend. That's a slap in the face Shepard. I see and hear how everyone look down on my great people. We were a proud race once, to them we're just savages who only know how to kill and destroy. Petty grudges and their insolence are not enough to make me lead my race to meet their doom. You showed me what's worth to fight for. My people and I know we have a chance to make the krogan a strong and proud people they once were. I will not let this chance go to waste Shepard. I see your point and I'll let you run the show Shepard. Just make it quick."

"I'm trying to Wrex. Shall we return?"

Wrex straightened himself from the wall and nodded as Shepard led the way to the others.

Wrex looked directly at Shepard as they arrived at the other, "You know information like the females you would think the Shadow Broker would know something about." He glanced at Liara, "Not that I know the Shadow Broker personally."

Liara remained impassive but was not pleased with Wrex's insinuations, "To bad I don't know him either. Or her. I'm sure he, or maybe even them, was busy."

Wrex mumbled under his breath.

"You mentioned you had Reapers on Tuchanka?" Shepard asked.

Wrex nodded, "Uh-huh. Clans Jorgal and Ravanor reported seeing a few groups. I don't know what those machines are doing on my planet and it worries me. Tuchanka might be a radioactive dump, but it's our planet and we will fight to the last krogan defending it."

"That's what I have always appreciated about you Wrex." Liara said and stepped up.

"Oh? My smoldering good looks?" Wrex asked and showed off his muscular build to Liara.

Liara laughed a little playfully, "Of course it is _that_. But it's that you never give up and that will soon pay off."

"Yeah, who thought we would be here on the verge curing the genophage when we destroyed Saren's facility on Virmire three years ago. To think that I even had to befriend a turian who thinks he's funny is also surprising."

"Imagine how I feel. I'm supposed to hate krogan, but you came along and warmed my heart with your winning personality." Garrus quipped.

Wrex laughed.

Miranda watched curiously as Wrex and Garrus joked with each other. She was certainly surprised seeing the friendly banter between the two of them, considering as neither krogan nor turians got along to well generally. And Wrex was certainly calmer now after Shepard had taken him aside, she was also very curious what the two of them had spoken about. The krogan hadn't really displayed any sense of diplomacy or restraint but seemed less agitated, or at least calmer now. And that little flirtatious moment between Wrex and Liara was very unexpected for Miranda.

"So these females, do you know them?" Shepard asked.

"Yeah. They weren't fertile before so we used them as decoys to draw away enemy interest from those that were fertile." His tone was somber.

"That's...awful." Liara murmured disgusted.

"But those experiments by that salarian changed everything and then they were kidnapped by these lizards." Wrex commented angrily and waved dismissively at the guards behind him.

Shepard tilted his head towards Liara, "I agree with Liara, that's a pretty awful way to treat your women."

"It was their suggestion. If we want to survive the genophage and constant battle with the other clans we have to make some tough choices so we don't go extinct." Wrex explained evenly. "I don't expect aliens to understand."

"What a horrible way to live." Liara said deeply disturbed.

"If we cure the genophage it will be a thing of the past."

"Are you ready to fight the Reapers?" Miranda asked curious about the krogan's stance on it all.

Wrex turned to her and proclaimed proudly, "I don't know who you are human, but ever since Sovereign was destroyed I have known this day would come when the krogan people once again would save everyone else from big scaly monsters. This is what the krogan does best instead of going off-world and die as mercenaries. This is our destiny."

"You are never gonna let us forget the Rachni War aren't you?" Garrus asked deadpanned.

"I haven't seen a turian statue on the Citadel yet." Wrex chuckled darkly.

"Just you wait Wrex, when this war is over there will be one of me and Shepard."

Shepard and the others shared a laugh.

"Keep dreaming Garrus." Wrex said sarcastically.

"I'm actually afraid that they will put up a statue of me." Shepard said unamused at the thought of a statue in his likeness and shook his head before he took on a more professional stance, "Let's see if they're ready for us."

* * *

_**Quotes from; Bad Boys (1995), Rambo (2008), Taken, Stargate Atlantis [unknown episode], Stargate Atlantis (episode: Suspicion), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Mass Effect 1 ( :) if that title should even be counted here)**_

_**"Sick Sticks" are borrowed from Minority Report.**_

_**I want to thank xXserialkillerXx for giving me ideas on dialogue in this chapter regarding the genophage. It was good to have someone to bounce around ideas with. xXserialkillerXx also helped immensely with a lot of dialogue during the summit and with Wrex regarding the krogan situation.**_

_**Edited (2012-10-24): Made a few grammar changes, added a few new lines and clarified some things.  
**_


	22. Krogan Pride: Part 2

_**If you click your way to chapter 19, you'll find a new scene that I just added. It takes place during the celebration. Read that chapter's author's notes for additional details.**_

* * *

With the salarian guards in tow, Shepard and the others made it down the steps and headed towards the end of the hall. From Shepard's right a salarian walked up from a workstation with a friendly smile, "Ah, Commander Shepard."

Shepard stopped and looked curiously but soon recognized the man, "Captain Kirrahe." He said cordially and extended his hand. "It's a small galaxy after all."

"It's Major Kirrahe now actually." Kirrahe said and the two shook hands.

"Congratulations. It's good to see you again."

The Salarian nodded, "Yes, and it is thanks to your fortuitous intervention on Virmire. I heard we were expecting your arrival. But it wasn't the calmest apparently."

"Ah, yes. We were apparently not cleared to land."

Garrus walked up to them and offered his hand, "But it's good to at least see one friendly face here in this jungle."

"Ah, Mr. Vakarian, it's good to see you again."

Kirrahe and Garrus shook hands.

"Please, it's Garrus."

"Of course." Kirrahe glanced over the assembled party and saw Liara standing next to Garrus, The Major gave the asari a courteous nod, "And it's good to see you as well Dr. T'soni."

"Always a pleasure Major." Liara answered cordially.

Kirrahe glanced at Miranda, "I don't think we have ever met."

"No Major." Miranda said professionally, "I'm Miranda Lawson, XO on the Normandy."

"I see." Kirrahe said and they shook hands. Kirrahe glanced at Wrex with his escort and joked a little, "Urdnot Wrex, always making a spectacle I see. Some things never change."

Wrex grumbled under his breath.

Shepard chuckled, "You have to forgive Wrex, he woke up on the wrong side of the bed today."

"Hmm, it seems the Reapers have a way of bringing us all together." Kirrahe pointed out darkly.

"So what are you doing here Major?"

"I led the operation on Tuchanka that retrieved the females. It was a very disgusting situation. I'm sure Mealon had good intentions, but it was very crude." Kirrahe shook his head in exasperation, "Several females were unaccounted for and could have easily escaped the labs."

"Sounds as horrible as I suspected it was." Shepard pondered.

"So what do you think on all this with the females?" Miranda asked curiously.

Kirrahe turned to her and shook his head and said sardonically, "Our scientists want to preserve them to study their _'evolutionary paradigm shift'_."

Wrex snorted angrily from the back but said nothing.

Kirrahe continued seriously, "When you have something which can be labeled as," Kirrahe made a quotation gesture with his fingers as he talked, "_'valuable'_ there will be people looking for it."

"They're in danger?" Miranda asked.

"Yes, I bet you Ms Lawson that this research base got highlighted the second we brought them here."

"Leaks?" Shepard asked.

Kirrahe turned to Shepard and nodded, "I have my suspicion, there are actually more people that know about their existence within the government and STG itself that I would like. As they're _'only'_ krogan, some don't care about their well being. I say your arrival is a blessing for everyone, especially the females."

"Huh?" Wrex allowed himself and watched the salarian.

Kirrahe turned his attention to the krogan, "Not all salarians see the krogan as a plight on the galaxy Clan Leader, and not all salarians see you as blood thirsty brutes."

Shepard turned and watched Wrex. Reading a krogan was always difficult, but he thought he saw something of a surprise in Wrex's eyes. But Shepard wasn't sure. He turned back to the Major, "It seems the effects of the Virmire mission are still felt."

Kirrahe nodded, "Very much so. The irony is that the cure at those facilities was destroyed, and now the war effort and a coalition rely on a cure for the genophage."

"You support this?" Garrus asked.

"Yes. I personally think the genophage has gone on far too long. But it isn't my place to question." Kirrahe shook his head dejected.

"Are the salarians ready for a war against the Reapers?" Garrus pressed.

"I've heard about Earth and Palaven, I'm unsure if any species can prepare for something like that." Kirrahe turned and looked right into Shepard's eyes, "Although, there are rumors about some kind of super weapon being built."

"Ah...it's complicated. But in the end we need turian support for the war, and they need the krogan. There's were the females come in. Everything goes in hand in hand."

"That's the reason why I'm no diplomat Commander. I'll leave the hand-holding to the dalatrasses."

Shepard chuckled, "A sound strategy Major." Shepard glanced over the reception hall, "It's a very tight security here and you are still concerned about leaks?"

"Our motto in STG is to expect trouble, failing that we create trouble for others instead."

Shepard nodded, "A good motto Major. Its best we hurry this on. It was good talking to you."

"Likewise Commander." Kirrahe leaned closer and turned his back to the guards and whispered, "Regardless what the politicians say, you'll have my support for Earth."

Shepard glanced at Kirrahe surprised, "You would do that Major?"

Kirrahe reached out and shook Shepard's hand, "Consider this my way of repaying a favor. It would be my honor fighting alongside you again Commander."

"Thank you Major." Shepard said.

"Good day to you Commander." Kirrahe responded and walked away.

Shepard turned to the others, "Let's get going."

The team proceeded down the processing hall and neared the workstation were Wiks was. Next to him was another salarian.

"Inform the Dalatrass that the handover of the females have begun. We had an incident but that's been resolved...for the moment at least" Wiks said to his associate.

"Yes sir." The salarian say and marched away up some stairs to the upper level.

Wiks turned to Shepard who stopped at his side, "Commander, you and your entourage have clearance for the lower levels. I ask you to refrain from straying away from your escort, especially your krogan colleague."

"Of course."

"Let's try and not reenact the Krogan Rebellions shall we. I don't think our infirmary can handle the casualties."

"Wrex has assured me that he will behave from now on." Shepard explained and glanced at Wrex. "He won't be a problem."

Wrex snorted, "Just make this quick."

Shepard turned to the salarian and asked curiously, "So…eh, what do you do on this base Wiks?"

"Evolutionary intervention." Wiks proclaimed proudly. "My government calls it uplifting, as do the rest of the galaxy. We guide other species in their development to suit or needs. My task was to evaluate life forms and determine if they are suitable or not."

"Isn't that...dangerous? Remember these big guys called krogan? Very tactical." Shepard said sarcastically and tilted his head at Wrex.

"Hmm, yes, that's why my work has raised some questions. More so then what could be answered." Wiks explained unamused about Shepard's comment. "So I have been ordered to find out what directs evolution itself."

"That sounds spiritual. Religious even." Miranda commented from Shepard's side and continued questionably, "If you are into that sort of thing."

Wiks shrugged, "Discovering how a species evolve, and uncovering its purpose, would be a major breakthrough in science."

"So do you support this handover?" Shepard asked.

"Look," Wiks said a bit defensively, "I differ in my thoughts then most of my scientific colleagues regarding the genophage, curing it will bring closure to the issue." Wiks pointed at Wrex, "The krogan may very well play a large part in our future we don't know about yet. But we should let evolution play its part in who lives or dies, not politics."

"Then we will be extinct." Wrex commented bitter from behind.

Wiks shrugged, "Evolution and natural selection." Wiks turned and pointed at the elevator, "You can go down now." Wiks walked towards the door.

"Right." Shepard said and followed. "Thanks for your quick assist in the matter."

Wiks pressed a button and the door opened to reveal a large elevator, "This cargo elevator will take you to the holding area only, and our project lead Prof-"

Wiks was suddenly interrupted by an alarm sounding throughout the base which caught everyone's attention and it was followed by a salarian announcer on the speakers, _"Alert! Base Protection Condition raised to Charlie. Ready the Quick Reaction Force."_

In the processing hall this caused a flurry of activity with people running around, checking screens and barking out orders. On the opposite side of the valley two Mantis-gunships started up their engines and thrusters and lifted off heading away from the base.

Shepard turned to Wiks surprised, "What's going on?"

Wiks tapped his omni-tool and looked at a screen, "Sensors have picked up unknown air units on the perimeter. You have to hurry commander; our project lead will meet you below."

Shepard headed into the elevator with the others. The guard team was about to enter but was stopped by Wiks.

"No, you stay here, we need this area protected."

"Roger that sir." The team leader answered.

The door closed in front of Shepard and the elevator began its descent.

"Wonder what is going on?" Liara asked no one in particular leaning on the wall in the back.

"If they're stalling..." Wrex warned under his breath.

"Let's get the females and get them up to the shuttle and let the salarians handle this, it's their base after all." Shepard said.

A few minutes later the elevator stopped and the door slid open revealing a large hall with people frantically moving about, trying to ascertain what was happening on the surface. The hall was very similar to the processing hall on the topside, the walls were covered with workstations and several workstations dotted the room.

A new announcement was heard, _"All base personnel are ordered to remain on site and maintain highest readiness level until further notice."_

Shepard and the others walked out. Shepard looked around as he expected to be greeted by this project lead but there was no one there. He saw a trio of salarians conversing about something across from elevator.

_One of them might know_, Shepard concluded and walked straight over.

"All specimens are in lock down and are accounted for. Security precautions are in place sir." One of the salarians told an unknown man in front of him.

"Carry on." A voice said and the two others scattered.

Shepard recognized the man when the salarian blocking his view stepped aside. _Isn't this surprising?_

"Shepard! Excellent timing as always!" The salarian called out and hurried over with a smile.

"Mordin? What are you doing here?" Shepard asked surprised to see Mordin of all people present on base.

The two shook hands and Mordin explained in his usual rapid-talking manner, "Surprise understandable. Hadn't expected to return to work myself."

Garrus asked standing next to Shepard, "You are back with STG, Mordin?"

"Special consultant on the genophage. Had to be me. Someone else might have gotten it wrong." Mordin glanced over the group, recognizing them. He took a sharp inhale, "We can exchange pleasantries later. Time is of the essence." He turned and looked around.

As they were alone he moved closer to Shepard and whispered, "I aided the krogan females after they were taken here. Fed information to Clan Urdnot. Got the ball rolling and exercised political pressure to free the females."

Shepard said with half a chuckle and glanced at Wrex behind them, "It all makes sense now. You are Wrex's inside source."

Mordin nodded and looked at the krogan in the back, "Yes. We're in a hurry. Alarm is very disconcerting. Follow me." Mordin gestured with his hand for them to follow him down the steps to the lower level.

Shepard looked at Wrex as they walked after Mordin, "This explains a lot doesn't it Wrex?"

Wrex snorted and said impatiently, "Let's get moving. I want to see the females."

Mordin continued, "We need to get off world for sake of female."

"Female?" Wrex thundered from behind. "It should more than one!"

"Yes. But sadly only one survived because of weakened immune system. Side effect after cure." Mordin explained. They ended on the lower level and walked past a large glass encased storage area and Mordin stopped. The salarian gestured with his hand at the body bags inside and said glumly, "These did not survive."

Shepard turned to Wrex and saw his angry reaction. The krogan was about to say something but Shepard looked at him evenly and slightly shook his head. Wrex crossed his arms and remained silent instead.

"But we kept Mealon's data didn't we?" Shepard asked as he turned his attention to Mordin.

"Yes. Data is very valuable, but is not intact. It lacks several details in how to reconstruct cure. But it is still useful for synthesizing from living tissue. All is not lost." Mordin then sighed morosely as he looked at the body bags, "I couldn't save them."

"But you did your best I'm sure, Mordin." Shepard said solemnly.

Mordin said in frustration, "I arrived here too late. But we can't delay any further. We need to get off world." Mordin turned and walked further down the hall and continued to explain the situation professionally as the others followed, "There's one immune survivor. Can synthesize cure from her tissue."

"Good." Wrex grumbled.

"Where is she?" Shepard asked walking behind Mordin.

"She's the last hope for the krogan people. It's imperative that we keep her alive. Curing genophage without her will be very problematic."

Mordin ended up at the far end of the hall at a containment pod similar to the one they saw the yahg being transported in. The inside of the pod was shrouded in a mist of sorts while the female herself was situated on some kind of restraining device.

"Here she is." Mordin said as he stopped in front of the pod, the others gathered around him. He continued mindful, "Please be careful, krogan slow to trust."

Wrex pushed past Shepard and Mordin and stopped in front of the pod. His face angered as he turned to Mordin.

"Why are you keeping her locked in that device?!"

"We need to transport her to the processing hall topside somehow. Plus it deemed necessary for the protection of the staff. Not to mention that her weakened immune system could have made her recipient to any kind of illness."

Wrex snorted and turned to the female in the pod. He continued disgusted by the scene, "Have these lizards harmed you, Shaman?"

"You saw my sisters in that room Clan Leader. They all died slowly while in pain." The krogan female explained in sorrow.

"We did the best we could for them." Mordin said in a low voice.

Wrex snorted aggravated. He and was about to speak to the female when Shepard walked up next to Wrex.

As Shepard got closer he saw that the female krogan was dressed in a krogan dark-blue ceremonial dress with golden stripes, covering her face and body, only showing the female's eyes. He introduced himself calmly, "I'm Commander John Shepard, Systems Alliance Navy."

"Are you here to kill me?"

Shepard raised an eyebrow surprised and tried to reassure the female, "No we're here to get you back to Tuchanka."

Liara was tapping her own omni-tool and had scanned the female krogan. Liara gasped disturbed at the results she was getting, "Goddess, what she's been through is unimaginable."

"I see several different species in front of me." The female said. "Most of them generally hostile towards krogan. But I see Urdnot Wrex among you. It makes me wonder why you are here."

Wrex said sober, "We can trust Shepard, Shaman. We're here to return you to our Clan. To our home world, away from these pyjaks."

The female turned her attention to Shepard, "Why? What do you want with me human? As I'm the only one left of my sisters, I'm very dangerous to a lot of people."

"I'm here because you are the last hope for the krogan race. I'm fighting for your future."

Suddenly the sounds of an alarm ringed out in the large hall and several red lights flashed. The sudden noise was foreboding for everyone assembled. What was happening on the surface was clearly not resolved and had escalated.

"Then I hope you have brought an army with you." The krogan female simply stated.

"This is not good." Garrus said from the back and readied his Phaeston-rifle.

_"Alert! Several unidentified contacts have breached the perimeter."_ The announcer broadcasted over the speakers.

This caused the assembled staff to rush around, preparing for the worst. One of the senior staff members rushed up to a workstation on the upper level where an operator was hunched over the computer.

"Talk to me. What's happening?"

The salarian operator glanced at his screen in front of him. He turned to the man standing next to him,

"Sir, they have no idea what that was, but it seemed we had several unauthorized contacts that penetrated our airspace."

The two salarians were being fed information from the base's radar station on the monitor.

"This is a 30 kilometer no-fly zone, where's the air force?"

""We're cut off from the outside world sir. Communications are down!" The operator reported.

"Send all files to the off site location and wipe the hard drives immediately!" The senior staff member ordered as he rushed down the stairs to a workstation near the pod with the female in it. He began typing away on the keyboard.

Shepard stepped up to the man with Mordin following him. Shepard asked evenly, "What's happening?"

"We have multiple ships inbound on the base." The salarian informed as he was typing commands into the computer from the keyboard.

_"Commander?"_ Shepard heard Cortez's voice in his earpiece. _"We have Cerberus troops all over the place engaging the salarian STG force here."_

"Cerberus? I hate these guys," Shepard sighed sardonically. "What's your situation Cortez?"

_"I took off from the platform and will provide air support. I've engaged a Cerberus gunship."_

"Alright, but be careful, you are our ticket out of here LT."

_"Roger that sir." _Cortez responded and the communication was cut.

"What's going on Shepard?" Wrex asked from near the pod, perplexed by the sudden rush of activity.

Shepard turned to Wrex, "Cerberus forces are engaging the facility."

Wrex pointed at the pod but kept his eyes on Shepard and thundered, "We're getting her out of here! Alive. Or there won't be an alliance."

Shepard nodded in agreement and reached for the shotgun on his back and threw it at Wrex who grabbed it in mid air.

"Just keep in mind that the enemy is Cerberus and shoot at the Cerberus troops only. Not the salarians." Shepard turned to the senior staff member next and ordered, "Release the female. We're getting her off world."

The senior staff member shook his head and looked at Shepard horrified, "No! And why are you handing a weapon to the krogan? Protocol clearly states that all specimens remain-" The salarian was suddenly cut short by a jolt of electricity from behind. He spasmed and gasped in pain.

Mordin was standing behind him with his omni-tool activated and at the ready and said threateningly, "Objection noted. Now please release the female."

Shepard couldn't help to grin at Mordin.

The salarian nodded intimidated and pressed a few buttons and a hatch opened near the pod to a small control compartment hooked up to the pod lift. Mordin walked away from the salarian and brushed past Shepard.

Mordin began explaining rapidly. "I need to monitor the pod as it clears quarantine procedures. You have to meet us at the next checkpoint Shepard."

"You got it Mordin." Shepard said and reached for his assault rifle.

Mordin walked inside the control station and the hatch closed shut. He tapped a few buttons on his omni-tool. His voice was heard in Shepard's and the others earpiece's. _"It's very likely Cerberus opposes the cure as it will form an alliance if successful."_

Shepard walked up next to Wrex in front of the pod as it slowly lifted off the ground. Even in the presence of a familiar face to the female, Shepard sensed she was still not buying Shepard's reasoning and he felt he needed to try and reassure the female of his intentions.

He tried to be reassuring and said, "I'll make sure you'll see Tuchanka again, Shaman. I promise."

The female krogan didn't respond as the lift disappeared through the chute leading up through the levels of the facility.

_"Get to the elevator Shepard."_ Mordin directed.

"Let's go!" Shepard ordered and the rest of the squad readied their weapons and followed to the stairs at the end of the hall that would take them directly to the elevator.

In the speakers they heard a new announcement, _"Base Protection Condition is raised to Delta, the use of deadly force is authorized by base commander."_

Shepard and his team arrived on the upper level near the elevator where several armed soldiers were covering the elevator with their assault rifles. One soldier was standing at a computer near the elevator and was feverishly typing away on the computer.

The soldier turned from the computer to Shepard, "SPECTRE, the elevator doesn't respond to our commands. Something's not right."

Shepard glanced at the elevator interface which flashed red and Shepard asked, "Can you fix it?"

"Wait." the soldier said and focused on the monitor again. A few moments later he exclaimed relieved. "There! I got it, it should work now."

"Good work." Shepard praised and walked up to the interface and pressed it to call down the elevator with Garrus right next to him. To Shepard's surprise the door opened immediately and revealed a dark tube-like device placed in the center of the cargo elevator that was flashing red.

"Oh, crap..." Garrus uttered in disbelief.

_Shit! _Shepard thought at the same time and he and Garrus quickly turned and rushed from the open elevator. Shepard shouted, "Bomb! Get down!"

But they didn't get very far. The bomb detonated in the cargo elevator with an ear deafening noise. The shockwave propelled Shepard and Garrus into the wall of computers and monitors in front of them, their armor suits protected them from the shockwave and fragmentations. The rest of Shepard's team hadn't walked up to the front of the elevator and instead had been near the stair case next to it and had quickly leaped for cover to the lower level, escaping the blast.

Shepard quickly got to his feet after the explosion, his shields and armor took the brunt of the explosion and his shields restarted quickly. He turned to survey the situation. The elevator was severely damaged and a fire was raging inside, it was apparent they would not be able to use it.

Several dead, dying or wounded salaries lied on the floor in front of the elevator, their gasping and moaning cut through the aftermath the explosion. Several scientists and other personnel rushed to help their injured comrades.

Garrus got up next to Shepard, uninjured, and muttered, "This is bad."

The rest of Shepard's squad with Miranda in front rushed up to the upper level from the stairs.

From behind Shepard a salarian scientist came up and asked, "Are you two alright Commander?"

Shepard turned, "Yes."

Garrus turned as well and nodded to the salarian.

"Good, that elevator is out of commission." The salarian turned to face the length of the corridor and pointed at the end of it. "There's an emergency escape ladder over there, you can take it up to the floor above us. It'll be open."

"Understood." Shepard turned to his assembled squad. "We're getting out of here; we need to protect that pod."

The others acknowledged his orders and he quickly led them down the end of the corridor. They went through the emergency exit and inside was a chamber with a ladder leading up.

"Mordin." Shepard said as he walked in, "The elevator is destroyed; we're taking an alternate route. Cerberus is here and they are trying to locate the female."

The radio cracked to life, _"Quarantine checkpoint is under heavy attack, STG force is being overrun! Hurry Shepard!"_

"Copy that." Shepard said when he reached the ladder and holstered his rifle and began climbing.

Wrex brusquely pushed past the others and ended up at the ladder and followed Shepard up. He said impatiently, "We have to do whatever it takes to protect the female Shepard!"

"I know." Shepard shot back as he quickly climbed the ladder. His adrenaline began pumping through his veins; he mentally prepared himself for combat.

Shepard reached a small platform above the ladder with a closed door leading out. Shepard waited as Wrex joined him followed by Garrus. As there wasn't much space on the platform for them all, Shepard opened the door and quickly cleared the immediate area with his rifle at the ready. Garrus and Wrex fanned out and soon Liara and Miranda joined them in the corridor. They had arrived at an open floor which resembled the processing hall; it was the same general architectural feature of the salarian base everywhere. No walls covered the outer edges and you could see across the entire breath-taking view of the jungle valley with the tallest palm trees reaching their level.

Shepard took point and led the squad the short length of the corridor from the emergency exit and walked around the corner into an open area with several small office compartments. The signs of battle could be seen as there were bullet holes in the walls and several dead salarians soldiers laid on the floor. The fire sprinkler system was activated in the roof and the water was being sprayed across the level as there was a fire in one of the offices.

Shepard walked down the corridor and spotted several Cerberus troopers advancing through the middle of the hall. He aimed down the sights of his assault rifle and opened fire at one of them; a quick burst to the torso and the trooper fell dead. This got the attention of the rest of the enemy squad who quickly darted to cover behind some walls and pillars and opened fire at Shepard who himself quickly took cover behind a large pillar adjacent to an office with Wrex next to him. Wrex turned around to his side of the pillar and shot several rounds from his shotgun at the direction of the troopers. Garrus, Liara and Miranda spread out and found cover themselves behind pillars and walls.

With one dead, there was four enemies left that returned fire and deployed several smoke grenades for additional cover.

Behind his own wall, Garrus holstered his assault rifle and reached for his anti-material sniper rifle. He crouched near the edge of the wall and peered out of cover and aimed down his scope, activating the thermal imaging mode. In front of him Shepard didn't move from cover as he was pinned down by enemy fire, the bullets hit the pillar and sent small concrete chips flying. Shepard tried to blind fire across the side over his pillar, but his shots didn't have much effect.

Through his scope Garrus saw the body heat of a Cerberus trooper that rose from cover and used the smoke to hide his movements, but Garrus put his sights slightly in front of the trooper to compensate for the movement and pulled the trigger. A loud noise was heard as the high-explosive round left barrel of the rifle and hit the Cerberus trooper in the torso, tearing the body in half.

Garrus whooped in excitement, "Did anyone see that? I love this rifle!"

"There's something seriously wrong with you Garrus." Shepard allowed himself to quip from behind his cover while he reloaded his rifle. He hadn't seen what happened but it didn't take much imagination for Shepard to figure out what the high-explosive round had done to the target.

Garrus peered down the sights again and aimed slightly above a low wall were he suspected at least one Cerberus trooper was hiding. He fired another round and its proximity fuse detonated, severely injuring a trooper that screamed in pain as he fell to the ground and was now exposed on the floor.

Shepard leaned out the side of the pillar and aimed his rifle, the smoke was slowly diminishing but he took good use of his own thermal optic and fired a burst of rounds at the injured enemy. The gasps of pain stopped.

Wrex took the opportunity and rounded the corner of the pillar and entered the office and flanked the two remaining enemies. They were each covering behind a set of other pillars connected by the low wall that divided the office space from the corridor. The krogan leveled his shotgun when he saw one of them and shot several rounds from his rapid-firing shotgun into the human. The kinetic energy of the rounds staggered the enemy and he involuntarily backed away from cover into the corridor and the last shotgun round from Wrex hit the head of the trooper and instantly killed him. Wrex quickly began to reload his shotgun.

The last trooper tried to retreat, he was a few meters behind his dead comrade behind another pillar but when he ran away from cover Wrex had finished reloading and rapidly shot several rounds that killed the trooper.

"Clear!" Garrus reported and stood up from cover. He quickly switched weapons

"I'm sure there will be more." Liara responded next to Garrus.

"On me!" Shepard ordered and he continued onwards with the others.

Wrex vaulted over the small divider wall from the office he was in and rejoined Shepard.

They quickly ran down the corridor and ended at a new door. Shepard swiped his hand over the interface and the door slid open. Inside there was some kind of a containment lab as well as a Cerberus squad that advanced through the room towards, it was most likely reinforcements for the squad that was just killed.

Shepard and the others immediately aimed their weapons at the Cerberus squad and was about to open fire when a powerful explosion rocked the lab that instantaneously killed the four-man squad. A fire erupted from some exposed high-pressure pipes on the right of the corridor and an intense fire erupted from the gases. The lab housed several containment pods and one of them was damaged by the explosion and its specimen burst through the pod's protective and hardened glass. It was a yahg.

The yahg roared in anger and quickly disappeared past the fire and around the corner of the corridor.

Shepard cautiously walked through the door and swept the lab for other hostiles but saw none.

"Careful." Shepard said tongue-in-cheek, "There went the next Shadow Broker."

Garrus chuckled from behind Shepard, "He probably roared _'T'soni'_."

Liara snapped unamused, "Not funny."

Garrus turned to Wrex who now was last in line, "That thing was almost as big as you Wrex."

"Don't worry." Wrex said deadpanned, "I'll protect you all squishy aliens if he returns."

The fire raging in the corridor blocked the passage and they had to take a detour through one of the adjacent labs instead to go around the fire. Shepard vaulted over a low wall on his left and the others followed. They traversed the lab and carefully watched the pods that scattered the wall on the opposite side of the corridor. The yagh's inside followed the squad's every move.

"Yeah. Damn salarians. This is just an accident waiting to happen." Garrus muttered as he glanced at the pods prepared if another one would escape the containment.

"I agree." Miranda said behind the turian. "I'm curious what the salarians are up to with the yagh."

"This is going from bad to worse; Cerberus forces attacking and now a loose yahg." Garrus muttered. "I still have nightmares from the Shadow Broker base."

They went past a few overturned tables and other lab equipment as they cleared the room and could now safely vault over a low wall far away from the fire in the corridor. The squad kept a respectable distance from the fire and went up the same flight of stairs the yagh had taken.

The distinct clattering noise of weapons fire intermingled with the shouting of orders and screams in pain from both salarians as well as Cerberus troopers was heard from the level above them.

When they arrived on the second floor it was total chaos. At the waiting area near the checkpoint, a Cerberus shuttle was hovering just outside at the edge of the level, offloading troops to support the Cerberus squad already engaging the remains of a STG team that was being delimitated by the superior force.

Mordin's frantic voice was heard in their earpieces. _"Shepard! Cerberus troops at first checkpoint, they're attempting to reach the pod-lift. We need help!"_

"Roger that. Squad, engage them!" Shepard blurted out as he hugged a low wall near him overlooking the waiting area. The rest of the squad quickly took cover around Shepard as well and they engaged the Cerberus force in front of them.

Miranda used her biotics and quickly lifted a trooper of his feet into the air who was slammed into the floor. Miranda quickly shot a short burst of fire at the injured trooper which killed him.

Liara unleashed a singularity inside the Cerberus shuttle, trapping two troopers inside the biotic force. A moment later Wrex let loose a biotic warp which detonated the singularity, sending one of the two troopers flying out with a tremendous force, hitting a nearby wall which killed him. The shuttle quickly retreated away from the fighting.

The Cerberus team on the floor was now aware of the squad engaging them from behind, and a small squad of four troops tried to reposition themselves behind some benches so they could repel the attackers. Two troopers were quickly gunned down by Garrus and Shepard, but the two others managed to get behind cover after they deployed smoke grenades for cover.

Shepard ducked down behind his cover and began reloading his rifle, as did the others while Wrex dared the incoming fire for a few more moments until he also ducked behind cover after being hit by small arms fire.

"I counted nine hostiles through my scope!" Shepard shouted over the gunfire being directed at them.

"We can take them." Wrex grunted as he reloaded his shotgun with a new clip.

"I got it." Garrus responded and pulled out a grenade from one of his pouches and rose from his feet and hurled it down range into the smoke cover. The grenade detonated and someone cried out in pain. "They're eight now." Garrus triumphantly said.

But soon enough the loud noises of a Kodiak-shuttle engine was heard again and the shuttle that had retreated had returned now on the far side of the structure and Garrus quickly ducked behind the wall. The Cerberus team stayed in cover and the pilot of the Kodiak opened fire, the mass-accelerated rounds severed walls, pillars and benches. The two remaining STG operatives were killed from behind and the pod-lift was now unguarded. Several mass-accelerated rounds went over Shepard and his squad's heads or hitting the wall they took cover behind, keeping them suppressed and unable to move.

"Any ideas?" Liara asked no one in particular.

"We have to take it out Shepard, before they kill the female!" Wrex barked.

"Please tell me how-" Shepard began before he was interrupted by Cortez's voice in his earpiece.

_"Keep your heads down Commander."_

Cortez's shuttle emerged on the other side of the structure and descended down, hovering at the edge. Cortez opened fireat the Cerberus shuttle. The rounds perforated the shuttle and ripped apart the cockpit, killing the pilot and the shuttle lost control and quickly dropped towards the ground below the structure and crashed into the jungle. The Cerberus team reacted to the new threat and directed their weapons fire at Cortez but to no avail. Cortez quickly repositioned his shuttle and once again opened fire, moving the shuttle back and forth in a fluid motion as he gunned down the troopers, taking care not to hit Shepard's team and the pod-lift. Suddenly it was eerie quiet as the Cerberus force had been defeated. Cortez scanned the level with his onboard sensors to confirm that all hostiles was down. Only the fighting on the other side of the valley was heard.

_"Nothing like a little air superiority, isn't it?"_ Cortez joked over the radio net.

Shepard rose from cover and glanced across the hall seeing the dead Cerberus troops as well as the carnage both shuttles had created. Most of the waiting hall had been ripped apart by the high-velocity rounds and all the walls had taken severe damage from the gunfire.

Shepard grinned relieved at Cortez's arrival and turned to face the hovering shuttle, "Good work LT, now-"

Shepard was interrupted by Cortez's frantic voice, _"Oh shit! Missile launch!"_

The Kodiak shuttle pulled upwards in a high-g maneuver and several bundles of countermeasures was released and Cortez accelerated away as two missiles flew by but they were spoofed by the countermeasures. The two missiles flew down the valley and disappeared into the jungle. The shuttle continued through the jungle valley in an evasive maneuver and a Cerberus fighter emerged and accelerated quickly after Cortez's shuttle.

"Steve! You got one fighter on your tail!" Shepard shouted.

_"Copy that Commander, I have to shake him before I can give you further support."_ Cortez responded and the communication was cut. The Kodiak disappeared above the peaks of the valley with the Cerberus fighter in pursuit.

There was nothing Shepard could do about it, and he turned his mind back to their task. In his ear piece he heard Mordin's voice again, speaking rapidly.

_"Shepard, you have to clear us through."_

"Right. Let's go" Shepard said and vaulted over the low wall with his team following. They hurried down the waiting hall and Shepard walked up to a console near the pod-lift.

"Fan out and provide protection." Shepard ordered the others and he turned to Mordin inside the lift behind the protective glass in the small compartment. "Is everything alright?" Shepard asked and began typing on the keyboard with one hand and his rifle in the other.

His team fanned out and set up a perimeter around the pod and the console, with a weapon pointed in every direction.

_"Yes."_ Mordin answered relieved that they survived the first checkpoint. _"We have sustained minor damage but the containment shield is holding. So far so good. Can't speak for krogan." _Mordin checked the status of the pod on his own console inside the lift.

"I'm fine Commander." The female responded.

Shepard looked up at the containment pod, "Good."

_"Female's location kept secret. Possible mole inside STG."_ Mordin began rapidly and took a sharp inhale, _"Very disconcerting. If female is killed there won't be an alliance with the turians. The Reapers will be left unopposed."_

"I know." Shepard said in a low voice and pressed the final button and sent the lift on its way.

_"Shepard. Meet us at the next checkpoint. Cerberus likely to target-" _

A sudden explosion rocked the pod-lift as the large wall nearit crumbled, and Mordin was knocked to his feet by the shockwave. A new Cerberus shuttle appeared from above, hovering near the lift. The shuttle door was open and four Cerberus troopers opened fire with their rifles at the pod as it ascended.

Shepard's team darted to cover behind low walls and benches. Shepard slid behind the workstation but several rounds hit his armor, he peered out of cover and opened fire in short controlled bursts in retaliation at the Kodiak, killing one of the troopers.

Garrus overloaded a Centurion's shields and Miranda followed with an overload herself at the Centurion aswell which caused him to scream, both attacks shorted out the protective shields and the Centurion was gunned down by fire from both Garrus' and Miranda's weapons.

Liara fired her Locust sub-machine gun at a trooper and Wrex targeted him with a warp attack, Liara quickly finished him off with burst to the torso. The last remaining Cerberus trooper tried to reach for the door controls but he was killed by Shepard.

The shuttle door closed and the Kodiak sped away.

"On me!" Shepard ordered and left cover with his weapon at the ready. The crumbled wall exposed a fairly large ledge on the outside which was used as a plant bed which itself was a common fixture on the outside of the structures. The team quickly left their covers and followed Shepard out on the ledge which took them to the adjacent level. Shepard led the team through the level's office space.

Mordin was heard once again, _"Shepard, the blast damaged the shields. I'll try and fix them from my console. You have to hurry!"_

"Understood Mordin, we're trying to get to you as fast as we can." Shepard responded.

Cutting through the office Shepard saw a four-man Cerberus team emerge from the end of the hall.

"Contact!" Shepard cried out and quickly hugged a pillar to his left. The others darted to cover as well.

Wrex leveled his shotgun and shot several salvos into the group of troopers and Centurions who was caught in the open between some hardened plant-boxes which seemed to be everywhere, adding yet another jungle vibe even to the inside of the large structure. Wrex's shotgun rounds ripped through the troopers which staggered and screamed in pain. The shotgun was depleted and the ventilating system beeped and vented the bent-up heat produced.

Wrex didn't have the patient of reloading and he transitioned himself into a rage and growled as he rushed forward at the gaggle of enemies. The shear brute force of the charging krogan was slammed into the Cerberus troops, knocking them to the ground and killing most of them. One of the troopers was on his back and gasped in pain as he tried to roll over and crawl away, but Wrex walked over with determination and stomped his large foot into the trooper's helmet, crushing the man's skull.

Shepard peeked out from his cover and was amazed by the carnage after Wrex's attack.

"That did it." Garrus quipped from behind the low wall he and taken cover behind.

Wrex turned to Shepard and growled while he reloaded his shotgun, "Let's go Shepard! We can't stall."

"Right with you Wrex." Shepard said and left the pillar.

Moments later the rest of the squad joined up and they headed for a door located in the end of the hall.

* * *

Through the door they found a hallway that led them to a two-part flight of stairs that took them to the third floor. Arriving in a small hall they found a salarian to their right hugging the wall with his back as several bullets hit the side of the wall. It was Major Kirrahe. He reloaded his pistol, an STG manufactured Scorpion. Kirrahe turned to the stairs when he saw Shepard and team walking up.

"Commander, hold it. There are a group of hostiles at the end of the hall with an automated turret." Kirrahe warned, relieved of seeing some allies.

"Great." Shepard said sarcastically as he stopped near Kirrahe with Garrus in tow. "There's no way around them?"

Kirrahe gave a Shepard a grin and peered out of cover with his pistol in hand. In front of him he saw three Cerberus troopers advancing through the hall and Kirrahe quickly fired three explosive projectiles that stuck onto the enemies. He quickly turned back into cover as several explosions and screams in pain was heard.

"Why do I not have one of those?" Garrus wondered out loud, amazed by the devastation Kirrahe created.

"I'll get you one when we get out of here." Shepard answered deadpanned.

"The turret is still operational." Kirrahe informed displeased and reloaded his pistol.

Down the hall the turret opened fire at their direction, keeping Shepard and the others suppressed. Behind it an engineer hunched down controlling the turret.

Shepard and the others were unable to move away from cover, they were stuck behind their wall.

Shepard glanced around trying to form a plan, but there was no way they could step out of cover, they would be chopped down by the turret. A sudden idea clicked in his brain and he stepped away from the wall and looked at it.

"How thick is that wall, Major?" Shepard asked.

Kirrahe looked at Shepard curiously, "Under a meter maybe."

"What's it made off?"

"Concrete and plaster mostly."

"What are you getting at Shepard?" Garrus asked confused.

Shepard turned to Garrus, "How many mines do you have on you?"

Garrus caught on to what Shepard was planning and grinned, "Four."

"Good." Shepard said and holstered his rifle.

Garrus nodded and holstered his rifle as well and began pulling out his mines from his pouches and fastened them in the middle of the wall. Shepard walked up and retrieved his three mines as well and placed them near Garrus' mines.

"You think this will work?" Kirrahe answered watching the human and turian working.

"We've to try at least." Shepard said.

A few moments later the mines were in place.

"Right." Garrus said and stepped away. "This is going to be a big explosion."

Shepard nodded and turned to the others near the stairs, "Let's head downstairs."

"How are we going to set them off?" Liara asked.

"Let's toss up a grenade, it should do the trick." Garrus responded and pulled out one.

Shepard's team and Kirrahe hurried down the first part of the stairs and hugged a low wall.

"Fire in the hole." Garrus said and rose up from the wall and tossed a grenade upstairs and ducked for cover.

The grenade detonated and set of the proximity mines on the wall and an ear deafening explosion rocked the hall a moment later.

Shepard rushed past Garrus and up the stairs. When the dust settled he could see that the mines had certainly done damage, the wall was cracked and several layers were exposed, but there was no hole.

Shepard shook his head in exasperation and sighed in defeat, "We would have needed double the amount of mines."

Wrex pushed past the others who were on their way up. Wrex grunted and growled as he rushed into the crumbling wall, sending blocks of plaster and concrete flying into the office past the damaged wall.

This startled the assembled Cerberus squad in the corridor who was already confused by the explosion. Wrex aimed his shotgun down range and unloaded it at the enemies past the low wall that divided the office from the corridor. He walked closer and the shotgun rounds trashed the armor of the engineer who staggered from the rounds. The man grunted in pain before a third shotgun blast severed his head and the slumped body fell to the ground.

Wrex shifted his aim to a trooper who was on the opposite side of the turret and Wrex shot several rounds at both the mechanical as well as the organic target. The trooper was knocked to the floor, but it wasn't enough to kill him as the shields took the brunt of the bullets The turret turned at Wrex who quickly ducked to cover behind the wall and the turret opened fire but the bullets went over the wall and missed Wrex's large build by a mere fraction.

Wrex reloaded his shotgun and heard a sudden explosion behind him and the crumbling sound of metal. From the large hole in the crumbling wall Kirrahe stepped out with his Scorpion at the ready shooting two more of the explosive projectiles at the Cerberus force beyond the wall. The first two projectiles had stuck to the turret and blown it apart. The salarian quickly slid behind cover at a pillar and began reloading his pistol. From the wall, Shepard and the others emerged with their weapons at the ready.

With a reloaded shotgun Wrex stood up from the cover and took aim at the Cerberus troops trying to fall back to a better position, but Wrex gunned down a trooper and the others returned fire, the bullets hit Wrex's armor which made him stagger from the kinetic force. He took cover again behind the wall and waited until his shields had restarted.

Shepard opened fire at the four remaining troops who tried to flee further down the hall despite the overwhelming opposition.

Liara attacked with a singularity that enveloped the troopers, they floated helplessly in the air. Wrex had risen from his cover and unleashed a warp which detonated the combined biotics violently. The battle was over.

Shepard stepped up behind Wrex and patted his shoulder padding, "Good work Wrex."

Wrex chuckled darkly at the aftermath of the fighting.

Shepard turned to Kirrahe as the others assembled, "Are you coming Major?"

Kirrahe stepped out of cover, "No Commander, I'm heading back and see if I can find survivors."

"Okay."

"Go through that door at the end of the hall and through the Species Observation Area, and you can get to the next level."

"Thanks Major. Good luck."

"You too Commander." Kirrahe said and doubled back through the crumbled wall.

"Let's go people." Shepard ordered and turned at the direction of the door and led the team to it.

Arriving at the door Shepard walked over to a console next to it and pressed a button and the authentication process began and Shepard was scanned. A few moments later the door slid open and they walked through. They entered a short hallway of server farms and followed it.

"Cerberus most have been tipped off." Garrus pondered, "There's no way they managed to attack this facility without someone on the inside."

"Yes." Miranda agreed. "Cerberus is able to find someone to manipulate one way or the other for their own agenda."

Liara said, "Every war has its traitors."

"Sadly that is correct." Shepard responded.

They hooked a left and arrived at a door and Shepard swiped his hand over the interface and it opened. Beyond the door they found a large hall with two stairs leading to a gang walk above them. The entire hall had been constructed inside the mountain and a small waterfall was at the very end of the cave. Inside they saw a Cerberus trooper run away from something. Shepard quickly raised his weapon in anticipation.

The man shouted frightened, _"Get it of me!"_

A Varren leaped through the air and landed on top of the trooper and pulled him down on the floor and ripped of the man's head with its jaws.

"Goddamn Varren is loose." Shepard said in disgust and opened fire at the Varren and killed it

_"Contact! Careful, we got live Varren down here."_ A Cerberus trooper shouted from somewhere down the hall.

"Miranda on me, we're heading up top. Garrus, take the others and press forward." Shepard ordered and ran for a stairwell leading up.

"I'm with you." Miranda responded and followed him.

"Got it Shepard!" Garrus shouted back and led Liara and Wrex further into the hall.

_"Orion squad, the female is at Checkpoint two, take her out, we'll engage the enemy here."_

Shepard and Miranda arrived up on the gang walk overlooking the large room. There was a large circular opening on the upper level which had taken some battle damage as a few segments of the low wall surrounding it had crumbled from explosions. Both Miranda and Shepard slid behind the low wall as they saw two Cerberus troopers emerge from a door on the opposite side.

The troopers opened fire at the direction of Shepard and Miranda.

"Take 'em out!" Shepard ordered

The blue aura of dark energy engulfed Miranda as she popped out of cover and targeted one of the troopers with a warp which shredded the target and knocked him back. Miranda raised her rifle and killed him with a short burst. The other trooper switched target and opened fire at Miranda, but her shields absorbed the bullets.

Shepard rose from his cover and fired his Harrier-assault rifle at the other trooper who staggered from the hits and screamed in pain. The man was suddenly lifted off the ground as Miranda once again was engulfed by dark energy. The trooper was slammed into the floor and was killed.

"Shepard, we have multiple contacts down below." Garrus reported.

"Copy that."

Below them, Garrus, Wrex and Liara and taken cover near some workstations and was engaging four Cerberus troopers, two used enormous polycrystalline-composite shields as protection, nearly covering their entire bodies except one hand as they held a pistol in front of them, shooting at Garrus and the others.

Miranda and Shepard repositioned themselves at one of the holes on the long axis of the low wall to get a better vantage point to support the others below.

Garrus had switched to his Krysae-rifle instead. He popped up as Liara and Wrex provided cover fire, shooting at the two with shields. As the heavy shields were nearly impenetrable the two troopers only staggered from the shots. Garrus aimed his slightly behind the two enemies and fired one shot that detonated and severely injured the two troopers who were knocked down on their torsos by the exploding projectile.

Liara and Wrex killed the two troopers lying helpless on the floor.

From above Shepard and Miranda opened fire at the two other troopers hiding behind a lab table and quickly killed them as well.

"Clear!" Garrus shouted and switched weapons.

Mordin's frantic voice was heard in their earpieces, _"Shepard! There are troops at the checkpoint! I need assistance!"_

"Copy that Mordin." Shepard responded and saw the locked door at the end of the gang walk. He turned to face the three others below, "Get up here; we can get to the checkpoint from this level."

The three others acknowledged and rushed up to Shepard and Miranda who had walked up to the door. Shepard punched a few buttons on his omni-tool and brought it up to the interface and let the advanced hacking-program unlock the door. The door opened and they hurried through.

Shepard ran past the corner of an office area and saw five troopers converge near the pod-lift, shooting at it in an attempt to weaken its protective barrier.

"Engage them, clear the area!" Shepard shouted and knelt down at the edge of the wall and opened fire at one of the troopers and killed him.

Liara and Wrex emerged through the office and each launched a biotic push that knocked down two troopers with a tremendous force. One of them struck the side of a low wall and his back bent backwards in an unnatural way killing him. The other trooper tried to pick himself up from the ground across the hall but Liara aimed her weapon and shot him with a burst.

Miranda attacked a Centurion with an electrical overload, draining the man's shields and then she gunned him down.

The last trooper was holding a heavy shield in front of him and firing his heavy pistol at Shepard who quickly ducked behind the wall as the bullets hit one of his shoulder pads. Shepard grunted in pain from the kinetic energy, but his shields protected him.

Garrus popped out from behind a low wall and fired at the trooper in controlled bursts, but the heavy shield protected him.

From inside the office, Wrex darted around the low wall surrounding the office and came up on the trooper's right side and shot several rounds from his shotgun into the enemy, quickly killing him.

Shepard stood up from the wall and hurried over to the pod-lift.

"Everything alright?" He asked as he turned to Mordin behind the glass.

_"Yes."_ Mordin said._ "I think Cerberus has cut the power to the lift. There's a control room on the far end of the hall. You have to reroute the power."_

"You got it." Shepard turned to the others, "I'll fix it, stay here and protect the pod." And without waiting for them to acknowledge his order, Shepard hurried down the hall and found the control room. Inside there was several computer workstations as well as a power relay. Shepard walked over and saw that the rod control had been pulled out of its socket. He pushed it back in and the power started up again.

Garrus reported on the radio, _"Shepard, we're being engaged by a squad of seven."_

"I'm coming back." Shepard responded and ran away from the control room.

Outside he saw his squad darting to cover and returned fire. A Cerberus squad had come through the same door as Shepard and the others had used.

Several smoke grenades were deployed and covered the Cerberus squad's advance.

Shepard ran up to a pillar connected to the outer low-wall of the office. At the workstation near the pod-lift Miranda popped out of cover and opened fire through the smoke. Shepard leaned out from cover and through his scope he saw the signatures of several troopers advance onwards. He could see the tracer rounds from Miranda's weapon, she was shooting in the right direction but none of her bullets hit any target.

"Shift two dots to your left Miranda." Shepard called out as he gunned down a trooper with a long burst.

Miranda corrected her targeting according to Shepard's instruction and moved the red-dot slightly to her left and fired a burst. She couldn't see through the smoke, but she heard a synthesized voice scream. She shot a new burst from her M8 and she was rather confident she had killed a trooper.

Wrex had taken cover near the lift and unleashed a warp that tore apart the shields of a Centurion in the office. The biotic force staggered the enemy but he pressed on, trying to take cover behind a pillar but Wrex followed up his previous attack with a shotgun blast which killed the Centurion.

Three troopers tried to advance through the open office and flank Shepard's team, but Liara who was taking cover behind a sturdy office table near Shepard unleashed a biotic push at one enemy which propelled him into the wall near the door they came through. She aimed her weapon at one of the others and fired a long burst at the Centurion who staggered from the rounds and tried to take cover, but an overload attack from Garrus on the opposite side from Liara drained the trooper's shields and the trooper was quickly gunned down by Liara.

A second Centurion tossed a grenade towards Shepard and it landed near the wall. Shepard and Liara quickly darted away from the pillar at the direction of the pod-lift and slid behind cover next to Miranda just before the grenade detonated in the office and trashed a office table.

Wrex took the opportunity to move up from his position next to the lift and darted over to the pillar Shepard had abandoned.

Garrus shot a concussion grenade from his rifle at the enemy that had been hit by Liara's earlier push attack. The trooper tried to pick himself up from the floor but the grenade hit him in the head and penetrated the helmet and crushing the man's skull, killing him.

"Shepard!" Wrex reported from the pillar. "I'm going to try and flank them. Cover me!" Wrex ran past the pillar and into the office, keeping a low profile.

"Copy!" Shepard shouted back

The smoke cover deployed by the Cerberus troopers had diminished and Shepard rose up from behind the workstation.

"Three targets in front, let's provide surprising fire." Shepard said to Miranda and Liara; he had seen the enemies through his scope earlier and knew where they were.

"Understood." Miranda said and rose up.

"Yes Shepard." Liara acknowledged.

In front of them further down the hall behind a large plant box in the middle of the room, three hostiles were shooting in front of them. Wrex had hugged the low wall inside the office and moved down the length of it to get into a better position. Garrus ran into the office after Wrex.

"I'm on you Wrex." Garrus said to as he hunched down next to him. Wrex merely grunted as a response.

Shepard, Miranda and Liara opened fire at the direction of the enemies, the suppressive fire kept their heads down so Wrex and Garrus could flank them.

Inside the office, Wrex and Garrus ended up at the edge of the wall right on the three troopers flank.

"Let's kill them, Vakarian!" Wrex blurted out.

"Copy." Garrus said and they rose from cover and opened fire at the enemies. The unexpected attack from quickly overwhelmed the Cerberus squad as they were unable to respond. They were quickly killed.

"Targets down!" Garrus shouted back to Shepard.

"Good work." Shepard responded and turned to the pod-lift.

He was greeted by an approving smile by Mordin, _"Excellent display of destruction Shepard. Clear us through."_

Shepard nodded and stepped over to the computer and began typing, "How are you two holding up?"

_"Containment shield is still strong Shepard. But it won't last long under sustained fire."_

"We will hurry as fast as we can to the other checkpoint."

The krogan female spoke up, watching Shepard at the console in front of the pod, "Why are you doing this Commander? This is none of your concern. You don't know me."

Shepard looked up at the female and smiled, "But I'd like to get to know you. Just hang in there and we will be out of here soon." Shepard turned to Mordin, "How many more checkpoints?"

_"It's just the landing area left. I hope your pilot will be there to greet us."_

Shepard nodded, "Yeah, me too."

From behind Shepard, Garrus and Wrex joined up.

Wrex asked the female. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine Wrex." She responded evenly.

Shepard pressed the last button and stepped away from the console, "I'll see you two up top."

The lift began slowly moving up.

Shepard turned to the others, "Ready?"

The squad acknowledged.

Shepard looked around, "Anyone have an idea where we should go?"

_"Shepard, there's a ladder on the opposite side of the hall past that door. Climb up it."_ Mordin informed.

Shepard turned to the lift and saw Mordin pointing to his left before the lift disappeared.

"Okay. Got it" Shepard responded and walked in the direction with the others following.

_"Commander, I'm on my way towards the landing platform."_ Cortez reported in. _"ETA 3 minutes."_

"Roger that Cortez, we will be waiting with the female." Shepard responded.

Wrex spoke up from behind, "If you pull this off Shepard, I'm making you honorary krogan."

"That's why I'm doing all this Wrex." Shepard responded glibly.

Wrex chuckled from behind.

At the end of the hall Shepard opened the door and they walked through and ended up on a small platform. The platform had taken some battle damage and there was a large crack in floor and the squad had to jump over it to reach the ladder on their right.

Shepard holstered his rifle and climbed the ladder and arrived on the upper level looking down the processing hall from earlier.

Mordin shouted over the radio, _"Shepard! Cerberus squad present. They're attacking us!"_

Shepard retrieved his rifle and from behind him Wrex came up and quickly had his shotgun ready.

"Alright people, we have enemies down below, we've to protect the pod." Shepard ordered.

Shepard ran to the stairwell leading down to the hall with Wrex behind him. Several smoke grenades were deployed around the pod. The salarian guards and scientists that had been present earlier had either left or were dead as a few dead salarian bodies littered the floor. A Cerberus squad advanced on the pod and from above three more Cerberus troopers descended with the help of their jetpacks on their armors.

Shepard and Wrex opened fire at two troopers and they were quickly killed.

Two more troopers emerged through the smoke to assist the now lone trooper that was trying to take cover behind a plant-box as Shepard and Wrex was firing at him.

Garrus was the next man up the ladder and quickly ran up next to Shepard and Wrex. He attacked one of the Centurions with an overload to drain his shields. The man tried to roll behind cover but he was propelled back by a biotic push attack from Wrex, the biotic force sent the Centurion flying across the hall and over the ledge, falling down to his death.

The two others was caught on the cross fire from Shepard and Garrus and were quickly gunned down.

Shepard ran down the stairs and shouted and Wrex and Garrus were in tow. They took cover behind one of the plant-boxes.

Liara and Miranda shortly joined the battle. As the smoke slowly began to settle and they got a better view of the battlefield, the remaining four troopers were caught in a firefight with Shepard, Garrus and Wrex.

"Hit them with a singularity, Liara." Miranda ordered.

Lira responded with unleashing said biotic power right next to the four troopers that were hiding behind a large workstation in the middle of the hall. Three of them were caught in its gravitational field and lifted off the floor. Miranda unleashed a warp which detonated the unstable biotic in a violent explosion which killed them as they were flung across the hall. The last trooper was quickly shot and killed by Liara and Miranda.

"Clear down!" Shepard reported.

"Clear up!" Miranda reported back.

Mordin chimed in, _"It looks clear of enemies from here as well. Shepard, I need final approval."_

Shepard left cover and hurried over to the pod-lift and the workstation next to it.

Miranda and Liara walked down the stairs and joined the others as they walked over to Shepard who was typing on the keyboard.

_"Authorize the final leg Shepard and the pod will be moved to the holding area." _Mordin informed.

"I'm on it. Let's get you two out of there."

The pod was lifted up by from the lift and a forklift attached to the rail system in the roof connected with the pod and safely secured it. The containment shield had taken some severe damage during the battle and was flickering frantically.

Wrex watched with anticipation as the pod being moved up the roof. Finally they had secured the pod and the Shaman was alive and well despite the Cerberus attack. It finally looked like they would have this finished up and be out of here. As long as Shepard's shuttle returned soon everything seemed like it would work out.

Shepard turned to Wrex and said cheekily, "I'm amazed; you behaved all the way through and even got to kill some bad guys in the process."

"Yeah, but we're not out of the fire just yet Shepard." Wrex said evenly.

Shepard nodded.

Their earpieces came alive and Cortez informed, _"Eh, Commander. I got a visual something big that is coming down hard. It looks like a mech!"_

"Bloody hell!" Miranda cursed.

Mordin was still stuck inside the pod and tried to glance out his small window, but the roof above him covered most of the sky and he couldn't see anything.

Shepard ordered, "Take up defensive positions. Go!"

The team quickly scattered and took cover behind the large workstations in the middle of the hall as a large white mech with orange stripes crashed down on the landing platform past the stairs in front of them.

It was unlike anything Shepard had ever seen. He had expected a AI-controlled YMIR-mech, but this Cerberus mech was piloted by a trooper inside a cramped yellow-tinted transparent cockpit and was even larger than the YMIR-mechs he had encountered in the past. The mech had two 'arms', one which was a formed as a tube and housed a rocket launcher and a mass-accelerated machinegun. The left arm was that of a claw arm.

From behind the mech, a six man squad of troopers and Centurions emerged from below with the help of their suit jetpacks.

_"Door is damaged Shepard, can't get out!"_ Mordin shouted and frantically tried to open the hatch from his console.

"That's some serious fire power!" Garrus commented from behind a workstation next to Miranda and Liara.

Shepard was on the opposite side of the others with Wrex next to him behind a workstation.

The mech began firing down the processing hall with its machinegun as the Cerberus squad flanked the hall from the upper level.

_"Commander, I'm not getting any closer to the landing platform, that thing's to dangerous!"_ Cortez reported

"Provide any Close Air Support you can, Cortez!" Shepard ordered.

_"Roger that." _

From the other side of the valley Cortez's Kodiak emerged and Cortez opened fire at the mech with his machineguns. The rounds hit the mech's back and staggered it. The pilot inside the mech turned it around at the direction of the fire and opened fire with the mech's machinegun.

Cortez quickly banked to the left as the mass-accelerated rounds went past him. He disappeared behind the valley peaks.

_"I have to get out of here Commander!"_ Cortez informed in distress.

"Shit, we're on our own." Shepard muttered. He glanced at Garrus and yelled out, "Garrus, use your anti-material rifle and try to break the canopy. Liara and Miranda; provide cover fire. Wrex and I'll go to the upper level and take care of the troops and flank the mech."

"You got it Shepard." Garrus said and switched weapons.

"Let's go Wrex!" Shepard said. He took the advantage of the lull in fire from the mech who was now beginning to turn its attention back to him and his squad.

Shepard hunched down as low as possible and used the workstations and the plant-boxes on the side of the hall as cover while he ran for the stairs in the back leading to the upper level. Wrex was following and tried to make himself as small a target as possible despite his size.

When they reached the stair well they used the low wall next to it as cover as the mech began open fire, its high caliber rounds ripped apart walls and several consoles on the workstations.

Garrus peered out of cover and aimed his rifle at the canopy and fired three shots as quickly as possible, they all hit the canopy but the material was strong and only a spider web-crack on the canopy was created by the projectiles.

Liara focused a warp attack on the mech while Miranda opened fire at the direction of the troopers above them but was unable to hit any of them.

On the upper level, Shepard hugged the low wall and popped out of cover and fired a concussive grenade at the Centurion leading them and followed by several bursts at the man who was knocked back and severely injured. Shepard leaped across the corridor and took cover behind a low wall opposite of the stairs and Wrex moved closer to the edge of the wall.

Wrex peered out from the edge of the wall and opened fire at the Cerberus squad killing the Centurion who had managed to throw out a smoke grenade for cover before he was gunned down.

"The canopy is still intact!" Garrus reported who had quickly returned to cover and reloaded his rifle.

"Keep hitting it!" Shepard shouted back over the gun fire.

The mech began a slowly and cumbersome walk to the left, following the Cerberus squad to the adjacent upper level despite receiving two more biotic warp attacks from Miranda and Liara. The mech moved towards the stairs on the other side leading down to get into a better position to attack the pod attached to the rail system in the roof.

Shepard popped out of cover with a grenade in hand and threw it down the corridor and he quickly returned to cover as the troopers in front opened up a heavy barrage of small arms fire at him, and a few rounds hit his armor and he grunted in pain.

The grenade detonated behind the diminishing layer of smoke and several screams in pain was heard. Shepard once again peered out of cover with his rifle and aimed at the smoke. His grenade had killed two more and Shepard opened fire at another trooper.

Wrex followed up Shepard's attack with several shots from his weapon at the same direction. A trooper fell dead to the floor.

The mech-pilot opened fire with his machinegun at the pod and the containment shield quickly lost some of its integrity and the field flickered even more rapidly than before.

Down below, Garrus popped out of cover and shot two more shots in succession at the canopy and Liara unleashed warp as well and this stopped the attack on the pod, but they both quickly ducked down again as the pilot turned his attention at them instead and opened fire with the machineguns.

The canopy appeared to still be intact, although it had several large cracks in its polycrystalline composite material.

On the upper level, the smoke layer disappeared and the two remaining troopers had taken cover next to some walls and were shooting at Wrex and Shepard.

Shepard popped out of cover and shot several bursts from his rifle hopping to hit a trooper but he missed, he clearly saw the troopers through his thermal optic hiding behind the wall, but Shepard was unable to hit either of them. He cursed under his breath when he returned to cover. Wrex shot several salvos also but neither could he hit any of the troopers.

Shepard reloaded his rifle once again and peered out of cover this time he caught one of the troopers in his sights and shot a concussion grenade that hit the man in the torso. The impact force caused the trooper to crash into a wall behind him and Shepard finished him off with a burst of bullets in the head.

Wrex unleashed a warp that struck the last remaining trooper in the shoulder and he staggered back from the force. Wrex fired two more shotgun salvos which instantly killed the trooper. With the Cerberus squad decimated, Shepard and Wrex focused their next attack on the mech further down the corridor. The mech-pilot turned and opened fire with his machinegun at Shepard and Wrex who ducked for cover.

Garrus took the advantage of Shepard's and Wrex's distraction and with a fresh clip in his Krysae-rifle he shot three more rounds in a quick succession which hit the canopy, this time it shattered from the explosive force of the projectiles. The pilot jolted back into his seat and instinctively turned away from the shattered canopy.

"He's exposed!" Garrus called out as he ducked down again and began reloading his rifle.

"Let's kill him!" Miranda ordered and rose from cover.

Both Garrus and Liara stood up from the cover as well and the three of them opened fire directly at the canopy. On the upper level, Shepard and Wrex opened fire at the exposed cockpit as well and the pilot was instantly killed. A projectile from Garrus' weapon detonated inside the cockpit and ripped apart the pilot's body. The mech powered down and remained still.

Shepard rose from cover and aimed with his rifle at the mech and saw the blood splattered inside of the canopy. He sighed in relief and shouted, "Target confirmed killed!"

Wrex stood up and faced Shepard. He taunted the SPECTRE, "You had me worried there for a minute Shepard, you are getting old. It took too long. Fighting Saren was a lot harder than this."

Shepard chuckled, "You haven't exactly mellowed with age, Wrex." Shepard tapped his earpiece, "Cortez, area is secured and get back here before any more surprises arrives."

_"I'm on my way Shepard."_ Cortez reported.

"Let's welcome Cortez and release your female."

"Finally." Wrex grunted.

They heard the engines of a Kodiak and Cortez flew by the complex and came in over the landing platform. The shuttle hovered and slowly descended. Shepard and Wrex walked down the corridor past the mech and headed to the paddock. Shepard stopped at a console and started the rail system again.

Below them, Garrus hurried over to the console near the pod-lift and released Mordin from the lift. He had calmed down considerably and shook Garrus' hand for helping him out of the lift compartment. Mordin and the others headed up to the upper level where Shepard and Wrex waited.

The forklift moved across the rest of the processing hall and settled down in the docking station.

The containment shield was lowered and Wrex walked up, offering his hand to the female. "Let's get you out of there."

The female left the pod but brusquely swatted away Wrex's hand, and responded unamused, "I can handle myself Wrex." She pushed past Wrex and walked towards Cortez's shuttle.

Wrex snorted and followed in her wake, "Women."

Shepard chuckled lightly and shook his head at the two krogan.

* * *

_**Quotes from; Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and The Dark Knight Rises.**_


	23. Plans Are Set In Motion

The Kodiak shuttle flew through the barrier curtain and settled down in the middle of the docking bay. Behind the Kodiak, the docking bay door closed and the barrier curtain was shut down.

The shuttle door opened and Shepard walked out first and turned to face the Kodiak as Wrex and the female stepped out.

"Welcome to the Normandy SR-2." Shepard said with a gentle smile to the female as she took in the surroundings. She gave the human a nod. She was still being a little cautious.

The two krogan walked past Shepard and stopped, and Mordin stepped out with a slight smile and said, "It's good being home."

"And it's good to have you back." Shepard reaffirmed.

"Yes. Can begin work on treatment. Need my lab."

"Ah." Shepard said and scratched his neck. "When they began the retrofitting, the Alliance turned your lab into a conference room."

Mordin turned to him confused, "They did what?"

"I hope the med bay will be accommodating for you Mordin." Shepard plainly stated.

Mordin pondered this, "Hmm. No choice in the matter. Very unfortunate. But infirmary will suffice."

"Good."

Shepard turned to the two krogan, "Wrex, will you stay onboard?"

"Yes, I'm not letting the salarian run around with his knife without supervision."

Mordin said nothing; he merely glanced at Wrex with an impassive face. Mordin hoped the Clan Leader would mellow a bit and see that he only meant good for the krogan people.

The female said slightly dismissive to Wrex, "With a fertile female around, Wrex wouldn't be able to keep his hands off."

Wrex snorted at her comment.

Shepard chuckled lightly, "I'll escort you two to the crew deck."

"I appreciate that Commander." The female said.

The elevator doors opened and Vega stepped out, "Hey Loco! What happened down there?" He crossed the distance to the shuttle.

Shepard turned to Vega, "Everything we didn't count on. Cerberus was there in force."

Vega glanced at the krogan female, a sight he had never seen before, but quickly turned his attention back to Shepard, "You should have brought me with you Loco."

"Who knew that a clandestine STG facility would be compromised like that?"

"I guess. So everyone's alright?"

"Scratches and burns mostly."

Miranda came up from behind Shepard, "For the rest of us yes. You? No. You better see Chakwas."

Shepard turned around and gave her a slight grin, "Yes ma'am."

Miranda rolled her eyes and continued past them to the armory.

"So, the Normandy is still in one piece." Shepard said and turned back to Vega.

"What? You doubted me?"

Shepard shrugged, "You crashed a shuttle."

"Whatever. I saved your lives back on Mars." Vega countered a little annoyed of having that shuttle crash flung into his face.

Shepard nodded and smirked, "That's why I let you get away with it."

Vega chuckled, "It's good to have you back Loco." He gave Shepard a nod and walked over to his alcove.

At the shuttle, several crew member led by Cortez began to move the shuttle-lift over to the Kodiak in order to hoist it to its parking space near the wall.

As the others left the Kodiak they strolled to the armory and the weapons lockers. Shepard and his team quickly turned in their weapons as the two krogan and Mordin patiently waited near the elevator doors. Wrex looked disapprovingly at Mordin from time to time who stayed a few meters away from the Clan Leader.

Shepard and his squad was ready to leave and then ventured over to the elevator. The elevator was in fact very large, more akin to a cargo elevator, but Shepard was unsure if they all would fit in with two krogan. But they began to fill the elevator and surprisingly there was plenty of room left and the elevator started its ascent up to the crew deck.

The elevator stopped and everyone began pouring out, but Miranda stayed behind and grabbed Shepard by his arm as he was about to exit. Shepard was yanked back a little by the sudden stop and he turned to Miranda curiously.

"I'm heading to our quarters."

Shepard nodded, "Okay."

Miranda turned to Mordin who stood next to Shepard and she said sweetly, "And Mordin, if you would be kind to see that John gets examined by Chakwas, it would be appreciated."

Mordin nodded to Miranda with a slight grin, "Consider it done, Ms. Lawson."

"Thank you." She said and pressed the button for their quarters and the door closed shut and the elevator ascended.

Liara and Garrus said their goodbyes to everyone and left for their respective quarters and Shepard turned to face Wrex.

"I hope the Life Support-room will be sufficient Wrex. It's either that or the bowels of the ship." Shepard pointed to the door further down the corridor.

"No, It will make due Shepard." Wrex said approvingly and glanced at the closed door. It meant he could be close to the Shaman and keeping a watchful eye on the salarian.

"Good. Let's go kick out Dr. Chakwas from the infirmary then." Shepard joked and led them past the elevator to the infirmary.

"It isn't as much as kicking her out." Mordin began. "She would still be allowed in if need be." He clearly didn't register Shepard's attempt to joke

On their way there the crew member present in the mess hall gave them curious looks as the krogan female was a very new sight for everyone.

The door to the infirmary opened and Shepard walked in first with the others. Chakwas was sitting at her office table and turned around to see who it was. Her face lit up and she rose from the chair.

"Mordin!" Chakwas exclaimed happily seeing him again.

"Dr. Chakwas." Mordin responded with a smile.

Chakwas walked over and instantly hugged the salarian which startled him a bit at first, but he regained his senses quickly and returned the gesture.

Shepard chuckled at the sight.

Chakwas released Mordin and saw the two krogan, one who she of course recognized. "Wrex! I heard you were onboard earlier. It's great seeing you again after all these years."

Wrex nodded and spoke evenly as he greeted the human doctor, "Chakwas."

Chakwas glanced at the female and she looked curiously at her.

"This is the female Shaman we rescued from the base. Cerberus showed up." Shepard explained.

The female gave Chakwas a silent nod.

"Oh! I see. Well, I'm glad everyone made it back."

Mordin interjected, "Yes. Very fortunate Shepard showed up. I'll need to start working on a cure."

"And as the lab is no more," Shepard said, "Mordin would need access to the infirmary."

"Ah. Understandable." Chakwas responded.

"But you would still be allowed in if needed." Mordin assured her and then informed, "And Ms. Lawson instructed me to have you examine Shepard."

Chakwas glanced disapprovingly at Shepard, "It doesn't surprise me. He's prone to injury."

Chakwas walked over to her office table and pressed a button and the windows turned opaque. Then Chakwas motioned for Shepard to follow her further into the infirmary and he did so without arguing.

She stopped and turned to him, "Do you want me to ask the others to leave?" She titled her head towards the two krogan and Mordin.

Shepard shook his head, "No, it's alright."

Chakwas commanded, "Alright then. Remove your chestplate, the gauntlets and any t-shirt underneath. I'll do a quick scan and see if we find anything." She brought up her omni-tool.

"Okay."

Shepard began removing the straps on his chestplate and gauntlets and put them down on the floor and he proceeded to take off his white t-shirt.

Chakwas began scanning Shepard and shook her head at the bruises around his body, "Well, the scans indicate no major internal injury on your body. You can stand and walk normally so there seems to be no problem with your legs. The bruises will disappear soon."

"Good to hear."

"There's no problem with the lower body?"

"I feel fine."

"Hmm, I see. But I wonder…" Chakwas trailed off and applied some pressure with her fingers on his left shoulder.

Shepard grunted slightly in pain.

Chakwas removed her fingers and continued professionally, "Yes, you have a minor crack in the clavicle. But with your fine upgrades you should be healed this evening."

"You did that on purpose doc! You just told me I didn't' have any internal injuries" Shepard protested.

The physician grinned, "I can't possibly understand what you are talking about Commander. What happened?

Shepard sighed. "I got caught in an explosion."

Chakwas rolled her eyes, "I'm not surprised. No…external pressure for a few hours."

Shepard nodded, "I'll keep that in mind."

EDI interrupted the examination, _"Shepard? Councilor Udina is calling us on the QEC. He wants an update."_

Shepard sighed annoyed and said sarcastically, "Exactly what I needed." Shepard reached for his shirt and armor. He couldn't talk to the councilor shirtless now could he? "Thanks EDI."

"_You are welcome, Shepard. Logging you out"_ The AI responded.

"Then we are done here." Chakwas said.

Shepard looked up at Chakwas after he pulled his shirt on and put on the armor pieces again, "Don't forget the others; Garrus took a few hits as well."

"I won't" Chakwas said.

Shepard nodded, "Good. I'll see you around Karin."

Shepard gave the others a nod as he rushed out of the infirmary heading for the elevator.

* * *

Donnel Udina was impatiently pacing around his office overlooking the Presidium. There had yet been any breakthrough in securing the turian fleet for Earth, and the intelligence he had received was difficult to stomach; 1.86 million people were killed every day in the Reaper processing ships. And with all the combat deaths taken into account, Earth would be depopulated in ten years at that pace.

The asari didn't want to detach any forces in fear of losing their hold on their own borders. But the Reapers had yet to arrive in any asari controlled space! It baffled Udina that the most advanced race in the galaxy didn't lift a finger. The turians wanted the assistance of the krogan before committing to anything but protecting their own planets, and Udina could appreciate the turians own demands, but things were moving to slow. And the salarians were sitting on the side as well. It frustrated Udina to no end. A Council member's home world was being decimated and no one did anything to help! The other races were only concerned about their own agenda, and it had always been like that since Earth became a member race of the council. Even now with human seat on the Council nothing could be done.

The Councilor had contacted the Normandy over the QEC to talk with Shepard, but had been informed that the Commander was currently on a mission on Sur'Kesh. The details were scarce but apparently it was important for the krogan/turian-alliance so Udina was hopeful it would soon be resolved. So Udina was impatiently waiting for Shepard to return his call.

The summit had finally been held, after a week of negotiations, but Udina hadn't heard anything of the outcome. Had they secured the krogan so the turian's could pledge their forces? That was the pressing issue at the moment. Udina had secured some assets in the past week, civilian ships was being converted into anything that could support the war, whether that was as hospital ships, supply ships or even war ships, they were being rushed into the fight. People with former ties to the military or law enforcement were primarily being drafted, but there was no shortage of recruits wanting to fight for Earth; people from the age of 18 to 65 were applying. Even human mercenaries had come forward. Seeing Earth burn had certainly helped immensely for recruitment.

Udina had even read reports from the Alliance that dozens of Cerberus defectors had contacted the Alliance to help the war effort. And the Alliance wasn't picky, but rigorous background checks were being made, and a thorough investigation into their psyches was done, primarily because of Shepard's reports that Cerberus troops was installed with Reaper tech to better serve the Illusive Man. Although those modifications could be distinguished visually, the Alliance wanted to be as sure as possible on whom they were drafting.

Udina was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice his asari secretary entering.

"Sir?" The asari asked.

Udina's head snapped to the direction of the voice from her office near the entrance. "Yes?"

"Commander Shepard is available on the private QEC." She informed.

"Thank you." Udina blurted out as he rushed down the length of his large office to the corner were the QEC-room was. He tapped his private code on the keypad and stepped up to the biometric scanner which scanned his eyes. Moments later the door slid silently open and Udina stepped into the small room which housed the QEC and a suite of computers and monitors.

He halted at the QEC holo-platform and pressed a button on the nearby computer. The advanced computers began taking in the information from the Normandy and a few seconds later Commander Shepard had been scanned by the QEC and Udina stood eye to eye with the holographic representation of the first human SPECTRE. He was wearing his combat armor and appeared tired.

"Commander. What's the situation on the summit?"

Shepard gave Udina a courteous nod, _"Councilor. What happened was that the turians are still in need of the krogan, but the krogan themselves want a cure for the genophage before they do anything."_

"The genophage? Don't they understand the dire situation for the galaxy? It would take years before that could be cured. What happened on Sur'Kesh, I was given very few details." Udiana asked annoyed at this new information.

_"Well apparently experiments made by a salarian on Tuchanka last year proved successful and there were several krogan females that were turned immune to the genophage through said experiments. Although only one survived the experiments, she was taken by the STG and was until recently kept at the STG facility we just escaped from. The Clan Leader, Urdnot Wrex, wanted her released because efforts to cure the genophage would thus be easier. We were to secure her release but Cerberus attacked the base, but we managed to evacuate with the female."_

"And this takes us closer to turian support how?"

"_I will confer with the Primarch and the Clan Leader as soon as possible. We have a scientist onboard who says he can fill in the gaps and have a cure for the genophage." _

"What's the time frame on this cure?" Udina asked skeptically.

_"Unknown, there are probably numerous tests that need to be done. The scientist is looking into it as we speak."_

"Almost two million people die every day on Earth Commander! This slow pace is not acceptable." Udina said angrily at all the stalling by the alien races. He crossed his arms.

Shepard snapped back, _"But running into war half cocked is not going to help matters. We still need more forces before any major offensive can be launched."_

_"And what does the salarians and asari feel about this cure? Curing the genophage could have severe consequences!"_ Udina spat back.

Shepard sighed and shook his head. _"I don't know about the asari, but the salarian Dalatrass, Linron, is not too happy about it. But that is to be expected by the salarians. It's been over 1400 years since the Rebellion and I think it's time to move on."_

"I hope you know what you are doing Shepard, and yes having the krogan on our side could be a tactical advantage, but soon there might not be an Earth left."

Shepard shook his head and retorted, _"You seem to think that I can fix all your problems by snapping my fingers. We were just on the verge of losing the only way to secure krogan support, but we didn't lose it. Instead we're now a step closer to have the turian fleets come to our aid. I call that progress Councilor. We're doing everything we can, and I don't deserve that condescending attitude that your treat me with."_

"You mentioned Cerberus?" Udina asked bothered.

_"Yes, they attacked in force. Securing the genophage will give us a major ally in the war, and that interferes with Cerberus goals. Which are still a little fuzzy to us, but the Illusive Man thinks he can control the Reapers so he can assert power over the rest of the galaxy. Cerberus domination."_

"How did Cerberus manage to attack what I assume is a classified STG-base?"

Shepard shrugged, _"We don't know yet, but they either had a mole inside the STG or very good intelligence. It's the only way they managed to attack the base."_

"Very well Commander, do what you can. That'll be all." Udina said coldly and severed the communication before Shepard could respond.

The Councilor left the QEC-room and walked over to his table and sat down. That they had to secure some cure for the genophage could take God knows how long, and they were running out of time. They didn't have time for this!

Udina sighed and looked at the monitor in front of him. It appeared that Cerberus definitely was a force to be reckoned with. They had been able to launch an attack on the Mars facility trying to secure the blue prints for that prothean super weapon and now they had tried to get this krogan female which was apparently the key to the cure. Cerberus certainly had good information and people in the right places to carry out these kinds of operations. Udina began typing on the keyboard and accessed a classified Alliance server and searched for a report which had been written shortly after the Mars incident. It contained what little the Alliance knew of Cerberus' current goals in the war.

After some light reading it was apparent that the belief was that Illusive Man sought to secure a way to control the machines, which the Cerberus leader somehow thought was doable through the prothean super weapon. It sounded like a fairy tale to Udina, the Alliance scientists theorized that the weapon was to be used to aim a energy surge that could kill the Reapers across the galaxy. Maybe the Illusive Man wanted the weapon to threaten the Reapers with it?

_Obey us or be destroyed._

Would something like that even work?

Udina fell back into the leather chair and sighed. Whatever the case, Earth was burning and somehow they needed a force to repel the Reapers, and no dreamlike control over the Reapers would be able to do that. The destruction of the Reapers was the only way. Udina was also disappointed in the slow progress that was being made, their SPECTRE had not been able to secure the turian fleets yet and they needed those reinforcements. And the Council was as useless as always. Udina needed to do something, but what?

* * *

Shepard sighed; he couldn't wait until he got out of his armor and ao he could take a well deserved shower. He had never liked doing business with Udina, the bastard had stabbed him in the back three years earlier. Then add all the political bull and the man was even more unbearable. Shepard stepped out of the QEC-room and found Liara leaning against the war table with a datapad in hand.

Shepard walked up to her and stopped, "Liara. Waiting for me?"

The Shadow Broker looked up and gave him a faint smile, "Yes I am. Ready for the next mission?"

Shepard sighed tiredly and with half a chuckle he said, "I want to take a breather first."

"Understandable." Liara said and then she smiled mischievously, "Sur'Kesh had some impressive secret technology. Hopefully they didn't mind me taking a few scans."

"Uh oh. What have you done now?" Shepard asked with a grin.

Liara straightened herself from the table and took on a more foreboding manner, "You are not going to like this Shepard."

"Oh?"

"It appears the salarians were readying the yahg for uplifting. To use them to further their own agendas with full deniability just like with the krogan."

"Jesus." Shepard muttered.

"Yes, exactly my thoughts." Liara said. But then she looked at him confusion, "I think. Isn't that a religious figure in one of your religions?"

Shepard chuckled, "Yes, very much. But it can be used as a curse word."

"You aren't religious John."

Shepard smirked, "No, hence why I use it. I won't have to worry about getting strike down by the good Lord himself for using his name in vain."

One of Liara's eyebrows rose up, "Alright. That doesn't make sense to me though. But more importantly, what do you want me to do with this information?"

"How much is it? And of what kind?"

"It's a substantial amount of data, reports, videos and recordings. It can really make the salarians look bad if released."

Shepard pondered this new bit of information then he said, "Keep it. Who knows, it might get useful."

"Blackmailing them into an alliance?"

Shepard shook his head, "No. But if they would get the urge to interfere with the cure we could subtly wave this in front of their eyes. Let's see how long the turians and the asari want to be allies with them if this leaks. Maybe it isn't the Dalatrass' doing, but it's still something we can use if our hands are tied."

"Very…cunning of you John."

Shepard sighed bitterly, "It feels like they haven't learned anything from their past. And the yahg seems way more uncontrollable then the krogan."

"I agree, hopefully they won't be as smug trying to hunt down that yahg that escaped into the jungles."

"Let's keep this under wraps Liara."

"Of course." Liara gestured with her arm, "The Primarch just arrived in the Conference Room, he called for a meeting with Wrex and Mordin earlier and wants you there."

Shepard nodded, "Alright, I wondered where Victus was. Thank you."

"You are welcome John." Liara smiled.

Shepard walked away towards the War Room-exit and headed for the Conference Room were indeed Wrex, Victus and Mordin was. Liara brushed by and headed for the guard checkpoint.

Shepard entered the glass-encased conference room and it was apparent by the body language that they were discussing something of importance. And Shepard had a hunch what that subject was. He stopped next to Mordin who watched the turan and krogan argue on the other side of the table.

"Look Wrex, you have the female now." Victus stressed. "We can worry about a cure later; because now I need your support for Palaven."

"No, that wasn't part of the deal!" Wrex growled. "This happens now. The salarian says he can begin work immediately."

"But I need your help now." Victus pleaded. "We can't delay any further."

"There won't be an alliance until every krogan is cured from the genophage."

Victus shook his head exasperated and leaned on the conference-table with his arms and looked down. Wrex stepped away and leaned on the wall behind him.

"It seems we've reached an impasse." Shepard said and turned to Mordin. "If you begin work this afternoon, how long until it's finished?"

"I will need to synthesize base antigen from female." Mordin began and he glanced at Wrex, "I will also require a healthy sample from a male krogan."

"You are looking at a healthy krogan, salarian." Wrex said evenly.

Mordin nodded, "Quite acceptable. Your presence on the Normandy will make things much easier."

Wrex shrugged, "I hope the food is better this time around Shepard."

Shepard said, "Alright, then that's settled. Time frame?"

"Hard to say." Mordin began and pondered, tapping his chin. "Optimistically I would wager a week. It seems Dr. Chakwas has all the devices I need to start working."

"I hope Palaven can hold out for a week." Victus muttered as he straightened himself from the table.

"And how do you plan on creating a cure that will work on every krogan? Can you do it?" Shepard asked.

"Of course I can do it. This endeavor is very similar to the genophage modification project." Mordin explained. "But I'm working against my own genetic code, much more difficult then garbage DNA blocking attachment sites. I will need to counteract shutdown or redundant nervous systems, adjust neurotransmitter levels. I will create cure Shepard, don't worry. "

"Good." Shepard said, trying to wrap his mind around Mordin's technical talk. Shepard wasn't stupid, but some things were a little too technical for someone like himself that was outside the scientific world. "Then you better get starting on all this Mordin."

"Understand the enormity of the task at hand. You can find me in the med bay. Eve requires tests."

"Eve?" Shepard asked curiously.

"Yes. Female's real name is unknown. Considering we're on a human ship, I thought it would be a fitting name for her considering human mythology. I would recommend that you speak to her when you get the chance, Shepard. It can give you a new perspective on all things considering krogan."

Mordin gave the assembled people a courteous nod and left the Conference Room.

Shepard turned to Victus and Wrex, "Is there anything else?"

Victus shook his head, "Not at the moment Commander."

"Better food?" Wrex asked.

Shepard chuckled, "I'll let you decide if what we have is any good, Wrex."

EDI interrupted, _"Commander. Admiral Hackett wants to speak with you and Primarch Victus."_

"Alright, we'll be there momentarily." Shepard said and gestured for Victus to follow him.

Victus was surprised at this but gave Shepard a nod and followed him to the QEC. Inside they found a holographic image of Hackett.

"_Commander. Primarch Victus."_ Hackett greeted. _"How are things going there? Do we have a treaty between the krogan and the turians?"_

"We're getting there." Shepard said. "But Urdnot Wrex wants the genophage cured before he pledges any forces."

Victus interjected, "Hopefully, Admiral, it won't take too long for this cure to be created. I need those krogan reinforcements."

"_And we need your ships Primarch."_ Hackett stressed.

"I'm aware of that."

"_What happened on Sur'Kesh Commander? I'm hearing that Cerberus was there. The salarians launched a major counter-attack recently and the enemy disappeared. They're probably hiding, waiting for the right moment to slip away."_

Shepard shook his head, "We don't know how Cerberus got there. Mordin Solus theorizes that Cerberus has a mole somewhere in the STG or the government."

"_That's a very unsettling thought Commander."_

"Yes, the Illusive Man is up to something."

"_Do whatever it takes to combat Cerberus, Commander. This treaty is the most important thing that can help us form an alliance. We need all the help we can get."_

"I understand sir." Shepard responded.

"_Are you heading for the Krogan DMZ, Commander?"_

"I haven't ordered Joker to fly us there yet, but I planned on doing that. Unless you have something else in mind?"

"_No, I want you in that system as fast as humanly possible."_

"Of course sir."

Hackett turned to Victus, _"That's also the reason I wanted to talk to you Primarch."_

"Yes?" Victus asked.

"_The creation, and deployment, of this cure is essential to the war effort. Don't you agree?"_

"I do Admiral."

"_I'm detaching the Seventh Fleet and will send it to the Krogan DMZ; we need every advantage we can get, especially if Cerberus is on the war-path. Primarch, is it possible for you to lend some forces to assist? It's in all or our interests to see that the cure is deployed."_

Victus pondered the human Admiral's words. "Our forces are stretched thin defending our planets, it is a difficult decision diverting recources tied to our defence, but I'll see if I can't get a few reinforcements sent to the DMZ."

Hackett nodded gratefully, _"I appreciate that Primarch. But this is an important step to building an alliance."_

"How is the work on the prothean device going, Admiral?" Shepard asked.

"We have officially begun construction on the thing Commander. The R&D team has dubbed it project Crucible and we're throwing everybody that knows how to hold a hammer at it."

"Will we get it done sir?"

Hackett said in awe, _"It's going to be the most ambitious undertaking in human history, it's going to be a challenge but the researches tell me that the plans are…elegant. It's massive in scope, but yet very simple. We will see this through Commander."_

"Aye aye sir." Shepard said.

"_Good. I'll talk to you later. Hackett out."_

The feed was terminated.

Victus turned to Shepard, "I'll contact my people and see if we can't get some forces deployed as your Admiral asked."

"Sounds good Primarch."

Victus nodded and walked out of the QEC towards the war table.

"Joker, get us to the Krogan DMZ."

"_Alright Commander."_ Joker said over the intercom.

* * *

_**Some dialogue changes made. Credit to xXserialkillerXx for ideas.**_


	24. Love and Other Acts of Courage

After a well deserved shower Miranda was standing at the closet in her bathrobe picking out something to wear. As opposed to when they returned from Sur'Kesh she now felt very relaxed. After a few minutes of scrutinizing her selection of clothes, she'd settled on a pair of black pants and an expensive satin blouse in white. She left the two topmost buttons unbuttoned which revealed her cleavage. The usual trademark suite she'd worn, the last clean one, had gone into the laundry basket earlier.

Contemplating what she would do next, standing at the bed, she heard the door opened and Shepard walked through wearing his armor. He walked down the stairs and stopped at Miranda and they shared a quick kiss.

Shepard smiled, glancing at her new outfit, "Very sexy."

With half a chuckle Miranda said, "I guess you approve then."

Shepard nodded, "I do."

He began removing his armor and storing the pieces in the closet while Miranda watched in amusement as more and more of his body was revealed. Shepard had a slight grin on his face because of her attention.

"I'm going to take a shower." Shepard finally said wearing nothing but boxer shorts and his t-shirt.

"By all means." Miranda said and watched Shepard heading up to the bathroom

Miranda walked over to one of the couches in their cabin. She fetched her private laptop and placed it on the table in front of her and was reading the Cerberus data Liara had forwarded the night before. Liara hadn't been able to retrieve very much and so far it wasn't very interesting material. Mostly reports of various kinds and also departure info for ships going back and forth from Omega to other Cerberus bases. But any information where these bases were located, or what these ships was carrying, was not on file. So far not much had been learned from the 'Omega files'.

She shut down the computer and leaned further into the couch, crossing her legs. The mission on Sur'Kesh should have been an easy 'pick up the package'-mission and then they would have left immediately. But Cerberus showed up from nowhere and attacked, making everything complicated. Miranda sighed.

They should have been more thorough before leaving the Normandy; they left in a hurry without even an actual strategy or a potential threat assessment. They didn't even brief properly before disembarking. She was very thankful that the standing operating procedure was to never leave the Normandy on a mission unarmed regardless of the mission, but some missile launchers would have been very beneficial.

That was a mistake from her side, she should have kept possible scenarios in mind and she should have drawn up contingencies if any scenario ever materialized, but she didn't, and it almost cost them an alliance and their lives. Shepard made it sound so easy because they would arrive at a secret STG-base, but even the salarians were overwhelmed by the surprise attack. It was pure luck they got through it all with the krogan female alive.

The bathroom door opened above her and she heard Shepard walk out and down the stairs with a towel around his waist. He walked over to the closet and quietly picked some clothes for him and took a minute to get dressed while Miranda glanced at his back and naked form with lustful thoughts in mind.

Shepard rose from the bed in a plain Alliance t-shirt and a pair of BDU-pants and walked over to the couch and sat down next to her.

"You look like you are deep in thought." Shepard said and watched her curiously.

"We rushed in without proper preparations. It could have gone very bad on Sur'Kesh."

"We couldn't know about Cerberus' intentions."

Miranda shook her head, "That doesn't matter, it was pure luck we accomplished the mission."

Shepard shrugged, "I guess. But who could have anticipated that Cerberus would assault?"

"But we should have! I should have come up with strategies and contingencies!" Miranda argued. "We rushed in and almost got overrun. You could have died. We could have lost the female and the hope for an alliance!"

Shepard turned to her and drew himself closer and he said softly, "Look, Miri, you did nothing wrong. There was no time to prepare. We couldn't anticipate that Cerberus would show up. The longer we waited, the more likely it was that the base was compromised. I wanted to get the females – or female is it turned out - into our hands before the salarians changed their mind."

"Damn it." She whispered and looked down on her legs.

Shepard kissed her cheek gently and reaffirmed, "You did nothing wrong. We made the most of a difficult situation and made it through."

"We have to be more careful in future missions."

"Yes. We will, if we can. If we prepare for everything, we're preparing for nothing, and we can't bury ourselves in doubt or in what if's. We just have to... learn our lessons and move one. Now we know Cerberus is gunning to stop the cure, so we can hopefully be more prepared in the future."

Shepard drew her even closer in his embrace and she leaned her head on his shoulder, taking comfort in his presence.

Miranda sighed, "What happens now?"

"I ordered Joker to get us to the DMZ. Wrex won't pledge his support until the genophage is cured so Mordin have begun work on it. Hackett have ordered a fleet to deploy at the DMZ in preparation for the release of the cure. The turians might send support as well if we're lucky."

Miranda lifted her head from his shoulder, "Yes, Joker announced that. It's also smart having a fleet in the system."

Shepard nodded, "Yes it is, if Cerberus interferes, or even the Reapers, we will at least be more prepared."

Miranda turned to face him, "Look John, I can't say that curing the genophage feels like the greatest idea ever. There can be unforeseen complications as a reaction to that. Who knows what will happen if the krogan suddenly decides after the war that they want revenge? But I'll support you in every way I can, if this is what you want."

Shepard nodded, "Thanks. I know, there could be a potential for some problems if this isn't handled right. And if there would have been any other krogan in charge I would have second thoughts about it all, believe me. But I trust Wrex, and he's level headed."

Miranda raised an eyebrow, "Wrex? Level headed?"

"You are underestimating him Miranda. So far he has actually been more reasonable then the Dalatrass. As you saw he got a short fuse and is fast to say rash things, but it all could have ended very differently. And I think that after I reasoned with him it all sunk in. I'll talk to him some more. Plus Eve seems vastly different than any krogan I have ever met."

"Eve?" Miranda asked bewildered.

Shepard smiled, "Ah. We don't know the name of the female Shaman, so Mordin named her Eve. Fitting as we are on a human ship."

"Adam and Eve, I guess under the circumstances Eve is very appropriate indeed." Miranda pondered,"So Wrex is Adam?"

Shepard laughed, "Maybe I should call him that next time I see him. Mordin will need samples from him as well to create this cure so it is appropriate."

"If he actually gets the reference I might change my view of him." Miranda added thoughtfully.

Shepard said a little more serious "Liara did some scans in the base before."

Miranda shook her head and said with half a chuckle "I'm not surprised."

"Yeah. She found information that the salarians are planning to uplift the yahg." Shepard continued seriously.

Miranda turned to him surprised, "What? Bloody hell!"

"We're going to keep those files…just in case."

"Well aren't we crafty John." Miranda said and grinned.

"Could get in handy."

"It's like they forgot the debacle with the krogan." Miranda sighed.

"My thoughts exactly."

"What happened during the summit? The Dalatrass didn't look happy."

"Well, she didn't want to cure the genophage. Screamed and was unreasonable. I tried to reason with her but she didn't budge until Wrex showed us a video on the females from the base."

"Ah, that explains a few things you said to Mordin when we met him."

"Yeah. But Linron didn't want to do anything until Victus and I threatened to pull any military support for the salarians. After that she finally agreed to let us head to the base."

"It went that far?" Miranda asked surprised.

Shepard nodded, "Yes."

"I would have liked to see you argue with the Dalatrass." Miranda smirked.

Shepard smirked, "Oh? Would it have turned you on?"

"Maybe." Miranda teased.

Shepard chuckled, "Everything's recorded from the conference room as per Alliance regulations. You can listen to it yourself."

"I'll do that. I have a bunch of reports to file now. Urdnot Wrex wasn't very diplomatic, what did you say to him when you took him aside?"

"I reasoned with him. Explaining that he couldn't carry on as he did, it would make things worse. And that he has a choice to make: make things right for the krogan or lead them to their destruction."

"John Shepard. The diplomat." Miranda smiled.

"Yeah, crazy isn't it?"

Miranda looked at John and pondered something that had bugged her a little under during the day. With everything going on with the summit and the mission, there hadn't been a good time to talk about personal affairs.

Miranda glanced at Shepard, "Where were you last night John?"

"I took a drink with Garrus."

Miranda raised an eyebrow and asked incredulously, "Really? In the middle of the night?"

"Yeah, I woke up and with all that's going on I couldn't fall asleep again so I snuck out, got dressed and fetched Garrus who was also awake."

"I was lying right next to you, why didn't you wake me up?"

"I didn't want to disturb you."

Miranda rolled her eyes.

Wasn't a couple supposed to share things with each other? Regardless if that was the happy moments or the hardships? Somehow it seemed that at times John didn't always share how he felt with her. The two of them had undoubtedly come a long way, and things had finally begun to fall in place, and Miranda felt very blissful being in love with John. But it seemed as he rather wanted to share his troubles with Garrus and not with her, his girlfriend. And she merely wanted to help him. Or was she imagining things? She knew he had some personal troubles after leaving Earth, Liara had told her that, but he hadn't really shared those problems with her.

Miranda was well aware that she hadn't been very forthcoming in the past about her feelings or her previous life to John, but she wanted to change that. It would be difficult but she would try her hardest. She wanted someone to share things with and she undoubtedly had that in John, but didn't he want to share with her?

"Is there something on your mind?" Shepard asked puzzled.

"It bugs me a little that you didn't talk to me." Miranda answered evenly.

"Well I-"

Miranda interrupted, "I'm your girlfriend John. I want to help you if you have trouble."

Miranda got up from the couch and sat down on his lap instead and rested her arms around his shoulder. He draped his arms around her petite form and drew her closer.

"I didn't want to trouble you."

"Oh, please John!" Miranda said bothered. "I want to be here for you."

"But this wasn't just about me; Garrus is upset about Palaven and other matters."

Miranda spoke softly, "I can appreciate that, and I don't mean that you shouldn't be there for your friend. But you shared with Garrus how you are feeling, and you didn't with me. It makes me wonder who is closer to you."

"That seems a little exaggerated Miri."

"Really?" Miranda pressed on and looked into his eyes.

"I just didn't want to depress you or anything like that."

Miranda shook her head, "You must be the dumbest, dumb person in the world."

Shepard chuckled and said sarcastically, "Well, thank you. It feels nice being so loved by you."

"And you should count your blessings Commander." Miranda teased back.

Shepard grinned, "I am."

Miranda stated calmly, "I don't want to be locked out."

Shepard sighed defeated, "I...having the galaxy on your shoulder and standing on the edge of the abyss really open one's eyes."

"I believe in you John." Miranda wanted to reassure him and kissed his forehead.

"That's exactly what I mean. What if I can't get us out of this, what if we are in fact only fighting the inevitable? When people say something like that it dawns upon me how feeble the situation really is." Shepard said exasperated.

Miranda noticed his slumped shoulders and blank stare and how much weight literally was on his shoulders. How much of the war was riding on him. During the Collector mission he had never accepted the _'suicide mission'-part_ and never wavered. He had always kept his spirits high. But now she could see that with the Reapers here, he had in fact changed. Miranda understood he didn't need to hear it over and over, but she knew that most of the war effort solely relied on the man in front of her. With him in charge they had a far better chance in winning the war because he saw what needed to be done and damn everyone that dragged their heels.

But didn't' he believe in the war? Didn't he believe in victory? His sudden confession that they might be fighting a losing battle rattled Miranda. It was of course a fact that they might very well loose, but Shepard always had that drive that allowed him to achieve what everybody else failed to, and if those thoughts could fester, if the cracks were allowed to widen, he could lose what made him great when so much depended on him.

She could actually see it now, how alone he was. Every time people told him how they believed in him, all they did was put more pressure on him, and it showed how ignorant they were. He didn't need them to boast his ego. Garrus certainly believed in John, but he was not naive, and that's why Shepard choose to confide in him.

And the events of the last three years weakened a lot of bonds for one reason or the other. Miranda could see how Shepard and Liara maybe weren't as close anymore because she had seen the change between the Liara who searched for Shepard's body, and Liara the Shadow Broker. Anderson was far away, so was Tali, and Williams didn't want to have much to do with John right now as long as he was with Miranda.

Now she could see how much he needed her to be there for him, but he somehow was reluctant to ask. Miranda knew how much John needed the support that only a unique intimate bond could provide. She could help him be the man everyone is counting for him to be.

She would be there; because it hurt Miranda to see the man she loved suffer.

Miranda rested her forehead on his and spoke softly, "I know you never asked for any of this John, having all this thrown at you. You have sacrificed a lot."

"Yes."

"But I will help you along the way." Miranda smiled.

"I know you will. And I appreciate it. And there's no one else I want to believe in me more than you. It means a great deal."

They stayed silent, relishing in the quiet moment they shared.

Miranda broke the silence, "You know, I have surprised myself how...attached I have gotten. I'm not good with attached."

"I think you have come a long way since we first met. I knew there was someone else behind that wall then what you let everyone see." Shepard smiled.

With a slight chuckle Miranda said, "And I blame you for that. How many times a day did you pester me?"

"Ahh, three times maybe? Four?"

"Mmm, and let's not forget breakfast and supper when you suddenly showed up." Miranda leaned back a bit from Shepard.

Shepard grinned, "Well, I might have enlisted the help of EDI to tell me when you left your quarters."

"Ha! I knew it." Miranda exclaimed knowingly. Then she added with a smirk, "I should punish you for that."

"Oh? Where would we be if I hadn't...pestered you?"

Miranda shook her head and tried to suppress a smile, but failed.

"Look, I had no intention of 'locking you out'. You mean the world to me."

Miranda tried her best to keep her cheeks from blushing and she smiled shyly. She didn't expect him to say something like that. John always had an uncanny ability to surprise her with such words of adoration.

"That was, uh, very…sweet." Miranda said a little awkward.

"Sweet? Golly gee, thanks for making me feel like I'm eight." Shepard said mock-seriously.

"Well, you're not so bad yourself." Miranda chuckled.

"Please. I'm fantastic." Shepard said sarcastically.

Miranda smiled heartfelt, "Yeah. You are."

Miranda leaned in and they kissed passionately. She relaxed and explored his mouth with her tongue, tasting him. The tingling sensation of his soft lips and his warm body pressed against hers made everything else around them disappear. Their intimate kisses were always full of promises for each other. Miranda wanted nothing other than to feel loved by John and be genuinely happy for once in her life. She didn't feel alone anymore as she had done for the past 35 years of her life.

After a minute they parted for air and Shepard said, "I've never met a woman like you before, Miri."

"No, you haven't." Miranda smiled, "Do you remember when I talked to Oriana over the net a few days ago?"

Shepard nodded, "Yes. What about it?"

"She told me that the way you looked at me probably meant that you thought the world of me."

"She's a smart young woman that one." Shepard smiled.

Miranda said softly, "Yes. I've never lost control like this before John. I'm an independent woman but for some reason I need you. Us. This closeness."

"There isn't a lot of place for logic in love."

"God, yes I know. And I can't help myself. I've never loved anyone or been in an actual relationship before I met you."

"It's a good type of dependence Miri, having someone you can trust that supports you. I choose it because I want someone like that in my life."

"Yes, I'm begining to understand that. I even contemplated to break in to see you when you were incarcerated." Miranda confessed.

"Now that would have rattled a few cages."

"Yes, I agree. It would probably have been a little difficult to infiltrate the Alliance even with faked credentials."

Shepard nodded, "Probably."

They sat in silence for a few moments again. Miranda could see Shepard was thinking about something. He had a thoughtful look on his face.

"Look, Mordin is onboard." Shepard finally said.

"Yes?" Miranda asked puzzled.

"And..." Shepard hesitated. He took a deep breath before he continued, "Maybe we – you - could talk to him about...your condition."

Miranda's body tensed. She remembered that Shepard had brought up that particular subject when she had confided in him about her infertility. But she wasn't too keen on revealing her most guarded secret to an outsider. It had taken all her control to push aside the will to clamp down and instead reveal it to John.

"Miri?" Shepard asked after several moments of silence.

She said flustered, "I...I don't know John." She removed her arms from his shoulder.

"I just want to help." Shepard said and reached out for one of her hands and intertwined their fingers.

"I understand that. But I'm a private person."

"Yes, you don't reveal much about yourself. It takes time to earn your trust."

"I just don't want to be hurt or have people use delicate information against me. It keeps me safe."

"But as I said before, you've come a long way since we first met."

"That's because I trust you." Miranda said and relaxed a bit.

"And I trust you, but it took a while. We were from two different organizations, but I trusted my judgment and eventually I came to trust you."

"I can imagine that it didn't take a day to fully trust me, I needed to earn your trust as well."

"Yes." Shepard acknowledged.

Miranda sighed, "But I have already told you that we won't be able to have a family if we would stay together. This is a moot point."

"I never had one to begin with. Orphan you know? I don't want to push you into anything Miri. If you don't want to talk to Mordin, that's fine." Shepard assured her. "I want you and whether you can have children or not won't change a thing."

Miranda lowered her head. Mordin had to cure the genophage and that was far more important than any selfish goals of curing her infertility, which doctors at Illium had already told her couldn't be fixed. And she was quite happy were their relationship was and didn't want to think too far ahead. One day at a time was quite enough considering everything else going on and-

She looked up at Shepard and her eyes widened a bit, "Wait. Are you saying you want to have children with me?"

"Uhh…I maybe wouldn't have minded it down the road." Shepard said carefully.

"John! Have you even listened to me?" Miranda exclaimed.

"Yes, I have. If we won't be able to have children then we'll find another way. But I think you have an opportunity here and you shouldn't squander it. Maybe Mordin can come in with a fresh point-of-view and figure something out."

This wasn't as much of a surprise to Miranda as it could have been. He had already told her he always wanted her in his life, and then he had also said that he was fighting for her. _Them._ It all made sense really. And she too was fighting for the two of them. Well Oriana as well. A growing part of Miranda wasn't opposed to a life together with John, she wanted one, but coupled with the war, she felt it was very unnecessary to plan anything for the future. One or both of them could be dead after the next mission or by the end of the war.

This was all going a little far, and now she had to be the logical one considering it had all gotten out of hand in a few sentences already.

And the fact still remained; she couldn't have children. No matter how much she wanted, it was an irrelevant topic after all.

"I can't have children John."

"I know. I shouldn't have started this. I'm sorry, let's drop it."

Miranda closed her eyes and took a few moments to collect her thoughts. She opened her eyes and pushed herself, "While many young girls might have been encouraged to dream about children and the whole Cinderella fantasy, I wasn't encouraged to do so." Miranda shook her head and spat, "It was detrimental to who I was supposed to be; the heir of a dynasty. My father didn't think emotions and love mattered. And I can now see what kind of affect such attitude from him had on me."

Shepard let go of her hand and wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer into him. Miranda hugged Shepard's body closer and she rested her head on his shoulder.

Miranda continued evenly, "And even when I was older, after I left with Oriana and joined Cerberus; love, relationships and children didn't matter. My rising career mattered. And through my twenties that worked fine. On my thirtieth year however, something happened." Miranda chuckled humorlessly, "My biological clock checked in and it suddenly hit me hard, how lonely i was. How I really didn't have anyone and I was miserable. I wanted a child. Someone that loved me unconditionally, regardless of who I was."

"So...I foolishly tried to get pregnant in various ways. Sometimes involving some unknown man I met from some dating site just too...try and get pregnant and then leave, but that notion was abandoned quickly. I even had plans with some man just to relieve stress on the same evening after we got Oriana and her family safely to the commuter shuttle."

"Okay." Shepard said in a low voice.

Miranda suddenly flinched and recoiled back from his shoulder and looked at him in horror, "But I didn't! I've been nothing but faithful to you since we got together. I never showed up because...of you."

"I didn't say anything Miri." Shepard said calmly. "I kinda figured that out myself as we were together that night."

"Yes. Of course." Miranda said embarrassed. She regained her composure and continued, "I visited a hospital on Illium once and they did some tests. I have something called benign neoplasm and that damage makes me unable to conceive a child."

Miranda trembled a bit and bit on her lip to fight back her tears, "So my dreams were shattered but I carried on. Now when I'm with you a part of me wants this."

Shepard hugged her closer and rested his forhead on hers.

"Don't sell yourself short Miranda, don't miss out on life." Shepard said softly.

Miranda regained her senses and smiled faintly at him, "Before I met you I didn't know how much I actually had missed. Just being able to be myself around you and Oriana is very rewarding."

"I didn't mean to push you." Shepard said. "And I understand that talking about all this is painful."

Miranda cleared her throat and leaned back a bit, "You just want to help me. My infertility is another mark my father left on me that that I can't run away from."

"I want nothing more than to help you make those dreams to come true."

"Look John. Even if Mordin could figure something out, he still needs to focus on the cure. The war effort is more important then something personal of mine. And I would probably need a lab to do research and surgery. That infirmary won't work. I would need something like Lazarus again."

Shepard joked, "I think he can multi-task. Do you remember all those crazy experiments he was running while trying to figure out the Collector swarms?"

Miranda chuckled, "Yes, well that was under different circumstances."

"Plus, if you two can come up with something, we can focus on that later."

"I don't think you and I should make up some grand schemes."

"I know, and I agree. But it won't hurt to see what he says. Use this potential opportunity you have."

"I...don't know." Miranda said cautious.

Shepard shrugged, "I don't know either, but he worked on modifying the genophage and you worked on Lazarus. Maybe something good can come out of it. I think you should at least consider it."

Yet again Miranda had been moved by everything he had said up till this point. This kind of support was another thing she had never really expected from him, and generally it would have been something she would have dismissed in the past. It was apparent he really wanted to help her. She felt overwhelmed by his actions.

Miranda began sobbing quietly and a few tears poured down from her eyes but she felt Shepard's hands on her cheeks and he swiped away the tears with his thumbs. He cupped her face and drew her closer and gave her a soft kiss on the lips.

"I love you." Shepard said softly when he ended the kiss.

"And I love you too." Miranda whispered.

Miranda closed her eyes and thought it all through for a minute while Shepard remained silent, letting her think. He wrapped his arms around her.

Miranda cleared he throat and opened her eyes, "I know it looks like I don't appreciate what you're doing for me, but I really do! It's just hard for me. Talking about my problems, accepting help, being vulnerable...it always made me feel weak. I was supposed to be perfect and feelings like this always seemed like failure."

"It's nothing weak in accepting help Miranda. And you are not a failure, you are just as strong as you were before."

"I know. You brought so many great things in my life. You made me a better person. And I'm happy with where you and I are at the moment but I don't want to make up some big plans; it's too much uncertainty at the moment. Do you understand?"

Shepard conceded and said softly, "Yes I understand. But I'm _very_ happy where we are and I agree, we shouldn't make up plans. I just wan't to help you get what you want and I would do anything for you."

Miranda kissed his lips tenderly which Shepard reciprocated and a minute later she pulled away and smiled against his lips, "I didn't' say I _wouldn't _agree to it."

"Miri?" Shepard asked confused.

Miranda pulled back further, "You are stuck with me and my past John. I'm not running away," Miranda smiled, "even after all these sappy confessions from you as of lately. I'll do this for you. For us. Let's see what happens and then we act upon it."

Shepard smiled, "And you are stuck with me as well, and we all come with baggage."

"Yes, I know. And what if this can't be fixed?"

"Then so be it. I've already told you I'm not going anywhere and we'll figure something else out."

Miranda smiled, "Look, I'm starving, let's get something to eat. It's been a long day. Afterwards, when the night shift starts and there are less people around, we'll talk to Mordin."

Shepard nodded, "Okay then."

Miranda kissed him softly again and took his hand and stood up. Shepard followed her from behind towards the elevator.

* * *

Miranda and Shepard were in the empty mess hall eating supper in companionable silence, enjoying each other's company. Miranda took a sip of water and put down the glass afterwards. Surprisingly she didn't mind Shepard's pushing and prodding. With little over a year and a half together, minus six months apart, she had slowly warmed up to the idea of a life together. She had never reacted negatively to the handful of sappy confessions from John; although she hadn't told him in so many words that she didn't mind them either. It was certainly a silly notion, and she was still determined to live their relationship one day at a time. Anything else would be counter-productive and frankly a little too much. But nevertheless, John was her _'ticket'_ out of a life of loneliness, and that was very welcoming.

Shepard's voice cut through the silence, "You are smiling you know?"

Miranda looked up at Shepard in front of her and she chuckled, "Yes, well sometimes it's hard not to."

Shepard smirked, "You are welcome." He took a bite of food and a sip of juice from his glass.

Miranda feigned seriousness, "Oh? And why would you think you had anything to do with it? Don't flatter yourself."

She couldn't let him think everything good in her life was because of him. His ego could be without that. She had Oriana as well to be happy about.

Shepard chuckled, "Yes ma'am."

Miranda shook her head and took a bite of her food from her fork.

"Do you ever miss your quarters?" Shepard asked. He glanced at the kitchen and the room beyond it.

Miranda shrugged, "Sometimes yes, it would be nice with some occasional alone time. Now I'm rather confined to your place."

"If you need space just say so." Shepard said casually.

"I know, and I do have some alone time now and then." Miranda smiled coyly and added, "Although living together does come with a few perks."

Shepard grinned and let his eyes roam her body, "I agree."

"Behave." Miranda warned with grin.

From behind her Miranda heard footsteps coming down the steps leading to the forward batteries.

Shepard smirked, "I'll try." His eyes left Miranda's body and upwards the disturbance. "Hey Garrus!"

The turian walked up the table, "Shepard. Lawson."

"Good evening Garrus." Miranda said cordially as Garrus stopped near them.

Garrus grinned, "I didn't mean to interrupt the love affair."

Shepard chuckled, "It's all right. Is everything fine with you?" Shepard motioned for him to sit down at the table.

Garrus sat down a chair away from Shepard, "Yeah its good."

"How's the calibration on the cannon going?" Shepard asked with a slight grin.

"Some minor power fluctuations with a few system, but it works, and it shouldn't be a problem as long as I keep an eye on it."

Shepard frowned a bit, "I thought the Alliance technicians had fixed everything."

"Well, not entirely."

"Or is it all your tampering that screws up everything with the gun?" Shepard asked with a wide smirk.

Garrus shook his head and responded evenly, "No."

The turian glanced at the infirmary were Mordin could be seen interacting with the krogan female they had rescued a few hours earlier.

"John, they say krogan females have a thing for guys with scars." Garrus contemplated deadpanned.

Shepard chuckled, "I don't think you need to worry about that. The real reason you still keep that scar is because it's part of your bad boy persona. Without it you don't have enough personality to get laid anymore."

"Oh God." Miranda murmured from her end of the table.

Garrus turned to Shepard and countered with a grin, "Oh? What about you Shep and that breeding request on Tuchanka? You know, you are a real heartbreaker. Leaving that poor love struck krogan female all alone without an answer. She's probably still waiting for a reply."

"Ugh, men." Miranda snorted derisively.

Shepard shrugged, "Well, that just means I'm more of a ladies' man then you are if I actually can get the interest of a krogan."

"Dream on Shepard." Garrus countered smugly.

"You wouldn't survive the encounter." Miranda pointed out unamused.

Shepard turned to Miranda and grinned, "That's why I'm with someone I would survive such encounters with."

Miranda gave him a suggestive and sultry smile, "One night with me can be very fatal-."

Miranda's mind finally caught up with the words coming out of her mouth and she quickly clamped down and put on an unfazed facade. For a split second she had totally ignored the fact that they weren't alone at the table. Garrus remained impassive; at least she thought he did, but her lover in front of her grinned widely which annoyed her.

Miranda turned to Garrus and said evenly, "You didn't hear a word Garrus."

"Of course not." Garrus responded casually. After a few moments of silence at the table he cleared his throat and rose from the chair, "I'll leave you two to your love affair."

"Right Garrus." Shepard said.

"See you around." Garrus said walked away out of the mess hall to whatever destination he was heading for before he had stopped at the table.

Miranda glared at Shepard, "Stop smiling dammit! I ought to wipe that grin of your face."

Of course it didn't have the effect Miranda desired.

Miranda sighed and looked at their plates, "Are you finished."

Shepard nodded and stopped grinning, "Yes."

"Good." Miranda rose from the table with tray in hand. "Let's get these things into the dishwasher and talk to Mordin."

"Of course."

They walked over to the dishwasher and spent a couple of minutes stowing away the plates, glasses and the kitchenware. Shepard closed the dishwasher and turned it on. He then turned to Miranda who was leaning her butt on the counter behind him. He snaked his arm around her waist and pulled her against him. Miranda gave him a playful smile while she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"So, it's fatal being in bed with you?" Shepard asked with a grin.

"Oh, you know what effect my _'poisonous'_ lips have on you." She teased and took a breath of his scent. "I should punish you for that."

"What? Your slip up? Wasn't that your doing?"

"I blame you for it."

Shepard leaned in and captured her lips with his. She lingered for a moment, savoring the taste and his soft lips, before she pulled away and protested.

"John!"

Shepard pointed out the obvious, "There's no one here."

Miranda tilted her head towards the infirmary behind her.

Shepard chuckled, "Well, Mordin looks like he's busy with something else, and he doesn't care."

Miranda took a deep breath and said evenly despite their flirtatious moment, "Let's go over then and get this over with."

Shepard nodded and released his hold of her and took her hand in his and they walked the short distance to the infirmary. He swiped his hand over the interface and the door slid open. They walked in and inside Mordin was standing next to one of the beds were Eve sat, he was busy with something on his datapad as he talked with the female krogan.

"Aware that krogan females find scars attractive. Garrus is loyal. Reasonably intelligent. Bit aggressive. Almost like krogan." Mordin informed Eve who appeared mildly amused.

Eve responded annoyed, "For the third time, Doctor. I'm not interested."

Miranda couldn't contain herself and laughed before her free hand went up and covered her mouth. She cleared her and throat and tried to remain impassive. Shepard grinned at her and they released their hands.

Mordin head turned slightly to the disturbance and he saw the two humans walking closer.

Mordin turned back to the krogan, "Of course. Turian/krogan not compatible due to the past." He took a swift inhale, "Commander Shepard is another scarred specimen. Prone to violence as well. Can think on his feet. But he has an outstanding mating request on Tuchanka. Might rival you."

Shepard chuckled and shook his head as he and Miranda stopped near Mordin, "I'm fine with my current lady. No offense Eve."

Eve glanced at the two humans. She nodded cordially, "None taken Commander."

Miranda teased, "Mordin Solus' dating service."

Mordin turned to the human couple, "Ah, Shepard. Ms. Lawson. We were-"

The door slid open and Wrex walked in eyeing Eve and interrupted, "Are you alright?"

The others in attendance turned to Wrex.

Eve almost sighed, "I'm fine Wrex. Try and relax."

Wrex snorted and looked at Mordin when he stopped near Eve, "You can't be too careful…or put any faith in salarian doctors."

Miranda watched Wrex near her. This was not going as planned. She felt apprehensive as she hadn't anticipated that they would get a surprise visit from the krogan Clan Leader.

"This one is different." Eve assured Wrex.

Mordin casually walked over to Eve with something in hand.

"Is he now?" Wrex countered suspicious and watched Mordin closely. "And what's that?"

"Simple blood test." Mordin explained calmly.

"What kind?"

"The kind that ends the genophage. Far less painful then tissue sampling." Mordin said without looking up at Wrex, busy with the syringe.

"Don't remind me. I think you enjoyed that a little too much." Wrex responded bothered.

Mordin implored, "Shepard. Please. Distractions counter-productive. Also affecting comfort of patient."

Shepard turned to Wrex, "Come on Wrex, he is just trying to help. And he was your inside source, you can trust him. I trust him. And who else will cure the genophage? You?"

"Salarians have minds like a maze. You never know when they're leading you into a trap."

Mordin stepped away from Eve and countered annoyed, "Trap? Eve's release my doing. You wouldn't know about her presence if it wasn't for me."

"That was before, now she's free. If she gets hurt, I'll feel it."

Mordin argued, "I understand that. But she's my patient. My responsibility. Her welfare a priority." Mordin asserted, "I will not allow her to be compromised by anyone!"

Wrex chuckled, "You got a quad doctor. Keep her safe." Wrex then sighed and added solemnly, "Our females have endured enough."

"Have work to do. Please leave." Mordin said and looked at Wrex who turned around and left the infirmary. Mordin mumbled after Wrex left, "Prefer females of the species."

Mordin walked past the humans towards one of the tables with some scientific equipment on it.

Miranda had stood next to Shepard and had watched the entire spectacle. _This was stupid. Mordin is busy and wouldn't have time with any of my concerns just because John wants to help me._

Shepard apparently noticed her discomfort and turned to her and whispered, "Is everything alright?"

"This is stupid. He's busy." Miranda whispered back, "Let's just go back to our quarters."

Shepard shook his head, "Nonsense. Come." He grabbed her by the hand and dragged her over to Mordin. Eve looked at the two humans with interest.

"Shepard. Ms. Lawson." Mordin said with focus on a machine in front of him, a blood analyzer. "Something I can help you with?"

Shepard let go of Mirandas hand and looked at her, then he turned to Mordin. "We would like a word with you if you have time."

Mordin turned to them and smiled, "Of course. We haven't seen each other in a while. Would welcome it."

"Alone if possible." Shepard informed.

From behind them they heard the female krogan slip down from the bed onto the floor, "I understand Commander. Can I take a stroll through your ship?"

Shepard turned to her, "By all means. Take Wrex with you for some company."

"I will." Eve responded and walked out of the infirmary.

When they were left alone Mordin looked at the two humans curiously. He walked over to Chakwas' table and pressed a few buttons; the door locked and the window turned opaque. After that Mordin began pacing around and speaking rapidly.

"Hmm. Interesting. Insisting on privacy suggests a very personal matter." Mordin stopped and looked at Shepard with a mischievous look, "Aware some humans have a very active sex life. Have you problems performing Commander?"

"What? No!" Shepard exclaimed flustered and blushed.

Miranda merely shook her head but couldn't help but grin at her lover's sudden discomfort. She wasn't nearly as embarrassed as he was. Mordin was clearly just having some fun on John's expense.

"I see." Mordin said in a professional manner with a slight grin on his lips. "Very good."

Shepard just shrugged and looked at Miranda.

_Yes of course,_ Miranda thought. _My move._

She cleared he throat and thought long on what she would say. Mordin looked curiously at her, patiently waiting. She took a deep breath and crossed her arms; _no sense in waiting, Mordin is certainly busy._

"I expect you not to tell anyone, Mordin." Miranda began slowly.

"Of course. Doctor/patient confidentiality."

"I…have benign neoplasm in my uterus, and coupled with my…genetic makeup, I am unable to have children. Neither John nor I are planning anything of that sort, but you might have…a different point-of-view on it." Miranda explained evenly.

Mordin remained silent; his mind was clearly processing this piece of information.

"And you want to know if the infertility can be mended?" Mordin asked after a moment.

"If it's all possible. Other doctors have said it couldn't be."

"Yes, difficult case." Mordin mumbled and tapped his chin. After a few moments he spoke, "I need more facts. I'm inclined to agree that it could be difficult to reverse. Will know more if we do extensive tests." He took a sharp inhale, "I'll accept the challenge."

_Challenge?_ Miranda thought. She should have been more offended, but she kept her demeanor civil. After all, Mordin might be able to wrap his mind around it all. And he was correct to a certain degree. It certainly was a challenge.

"I gather that the benign neoplasm has not been removed."

"Correct. Of those diagnosed only a fraction will develop problems that require treatment." Miranda responded.

"Yes. I'm unsure if said surgery could be carried out onboard. Would need a proper medical facility."

"I thought so as well."

"Will need to take some blood tests and a scan of your uterus to begin with. Will make things going forward much easier."

"But I don't want this to be in the way of the work you are already doing." Miranda explained.

"Please, Ms. Lawson. Will have plenty of free time while also doing work with krogan issue." Mordin said dismissively and then he took a sharp inhale, "Will need blood tests now. Please remove blouse and lay down on one of the beds."

"Now? Already?"

"Yes, why postpone it?" Mordin asked and walked over to the row of storage cabinets and began retrieving the necessary items to retrieve blood.

Miranda walked over to the closest bed and began unbuttoning her shirt. Shepard fetched a chair from Chakwas office table which he brought over to the bed and sat down. Miranda turned with a slight smirk and removed her blouse and tossed it at Shepard who grinned as a response. He took an inhale of her lingering scent in the blouse and put it down on the adjacent bed.

Miranda lied down on the bed with only ber black bra on her upper body. She watched Shepard who surprisingly behaved. Under other circumstances his eyes would certainly roam her body, but not know. He took her hand in his and gave it a light squeeze as she appeared a little tense.

"You alright?" Shepard asked while keeping his eyes on hers.

"Yes. But I'm not terribly fond of needles."

"Oh? Doctor Lawson don't like when needles are pointed at her?" Shepard teased.

She shook her head, "No I don't."

Mordin walked over with an assortment of items and was wearing white sanitary gloves.

"Shepard. A pillow." Mordin ordered.

Shepard did as he was asked and turned to the bed behind him and took one of the pillows and handed it over to Mordin who propped it under Miranda's left arm for better support. The salarian quickly tied a tourniquet around Miranda's arm above the venipuncture site. After a few moments Mordin traced the vein and tapped his finger to encourage dilation. Mordin quickly assembled a syringe with a blood collection tube in it and inserted it into Miranda's vein and he removed the tourniquet and let the blood fill the tube.

_An alien is doing medical work on me._ It didn't bother her, but a part of Miranda wanted her egomaniacal father to see it. That would have made her day. Even better, If Mordin actually figured out how to correct her infertility, it would certainly be a slap in her father's face.

After about a minute Mordin had several tubes filled with blood which he sat aside. He discarded the needle in a container and quickly taped a gauze over the punctured vein.

"Wasn't that bad right?" Shepard asked with a grin.

"No. Mordin, you're an excellent doctor." Miranda praised teasingly.

Mordin chuckled, "Thank you. Need you to remove pants for next procedure. Can keep under garment." Mordin walked away with the small box of tubes.

Miranda jumped down from the bed and did as she was asked, although this time Shepard did allow his eyes to roam her body and her black silk underwear. She tossed the pants at Shepard.

"Behave." She warned mock-seriously.

Shepard grinned and did away with her pants on the bed behind him.

Miranda lied down again and Mordin walked over to the bed's computerized scanner equipment on the wall and pressed a few buttons. The scanner came alive and scanned Miranda's abdomen to map a high-resolution scan. A minute later the machine was finished.

"Done. You can get dressed again, Ms. Lawson."

Miranda slid of the bed and took her clothes from the bed and was shortly dressed. Shepard returned the chair to Chakwas' table while Miranda walked up to Mordin who was looking at a monitor.

Miranda was watching the image of her uterus on the monitor. It surely was a strange feeling being so exposed as she was now. She could clearly see the small deformation of her neoplasm. It seemed she wasn't as perfect as she was intended to be.

The thoughts of dread slowly vanished when she felt Shepard brush up from behind. He wrapped one of his arms around her back and pulled her closer.

Mordin turned to face Miranda, "It will take a while to get results from these tests."

"I understand." Miranda answered.

"A future removal of the neoplasm could be beneficial in this case." Mordin tapped the monitor. "But it's too early to say if your infertility could be reversed. Considering many options. Gene therapy for one. But let's not worry about that now. Lots of work to be done."

"I…appreciate this Mordin." Miranda said sincerely.

"Of course. My pleasure to assist. Now, please leave, have a lot of work now. Two assignments."

"Don't forget to sleep Mordin." Shepard said.

"Please. Salarians don't need a lot of sleep. Different from other species."

* * *

Miranda and Shepard had quickly and quietly left the infirmary and taken the elevator up to their quarters. Miranda was deep in thought and she was thankful that Shepard was quiet for their journey to their room. Mordin had seemed…cautiously optimistic? Yes.

Mordin Solus was no doubt a master in his profession, he was working on the genophage cure, probably the most difficult scientific project thus far. The genophage cure was indeed a difficult task, and her infertility was probably even more so as Mordin only had to counter-act his own work in regard to the genophage. Miranda was clearly something genetically different. In a sense, she was one of a kind. At least Oriana didn't have to live through anything like this.

Maybe if they had access to Lazarus it would have been quite easier. She did after all accomplish the impossible; she went against nature and brought a man back from the dead. And during Lazarus, Cerberus had restored everything, and that included Shepard's own reproductive organs. John would be able to make a woman pregnant…it just wouldn't be her.

The elevator stopped and they headed inside their quarters. Miranda walked onwards and ended up on the edge of their bed. She sat down.

"How are you feeling?" Shepard asked as he closed the distance and sat down next to her.

"Overwhelmed. Exposed." Miranda responded evenly.

"You can trust Mordin."

"Yes. But old habits die hard."

Shepard moved his arms around her slim body and pulled her closer and kissed her cheek, "I'll be with you all the way."

"Yes, I know you will." Miranda smiled. It was gratifying having John as support, no matter what. She had never believed it before, but being two certainly made things easier. The warmth of his embrace made her feel better again.

She turned to face him, "You've done a lot for me John and not once have you complained."

Shepard smiled embarrassed, "Well…I…it's what couples do you know? Be there for each other. You've done a lot for me as well."

"I guess you are right."

He moved one of his hands affectionately up her arm and he caressed her face tenderly which made her smile even more.

"What are you planning John?" She teased playfully

Shepard grinned but didn't' answer and instead he leaned in and started kissing her slowly which she reciprocated. Their breathing slowly fastened as they deepened their kissing. Miranda's biotics flared up and engulfed both of them. Shepard parted and gasped in pleasure as his body's muscles relaxed. Miranda took the opportunity and straddled him only to push him down into the soft bed sheets to continue their kissing. Miranda's dark energy and slight humming vanished.

As opposed to when she wore her suit, her current clothes was certainly more accessible as Shepard's hands found their way under the satin blouse and caressed her body, his hands slowly moved behind her back and he grabbed her buttocks and pushed her lower body closer to his.

They continued their kissing with desire and passion and Miranda rubbed her lower body against his and both of them moaned.

Miranda moved her hands from being around his neck downwards as she unbuttoned his shirt; eventually she parted the shirt and she began to explore his torso and his firm muscles. They broke their kissing for some air and looked at each other's eyes and smiled happily. Miranda leaned back a bit and began unbuttoning her own blouse as Shepard's hands moved up from her abdomen to caress her bra-clad breasts which only intensified Miranda's sexual desire. A moment later she discarded the blouse but moved off from Shepard and the bed. She received a curious glance as she stood in front of him.

Miranda smirked as she removed her black pants and was in only her under garments. She crawled back on top of Shepard with one of her sexy smiles she knew Shepard loved. She wanted nothing but to consume him and to be consumed by him. She straddled him again and they began kissing anew.

Shepard caressed her back and slowly began to unhook her bra and pulled it off her and tossed it aside. Miranda moved away from his lips and kissed his jaw-line slowly and continued down the length of his neck and trailed a line of kisses down his torso. She moved her mouth to one of his nipples and slowly kissed it before she continued further down hís abdomen as her hands caressed his body.

Shepard's breathing depended as her lips neared the end of his abdomen. Her fingers found his belt buckle and she slowly proceeded to unbuckle it. She looked up and smiled mischievously as she slowly licked her lips for effect and in one fast move she gripped the pants and pulled them down.

Shepard's head fell back into the bed and his eyes flickered close as he groaned in pleasure.

* * *

_**The previous chapter and this one was one whole chapter, but I divided them instead. Would have been one hell of a long chapter if I didn't.**_

_**Quotes: I, Robot and Chuck (Episode: Chuck versus the First Date).**_

_**Can you spot the Chuck-quote? Miranda even says the same lines as Sarah does. :)**_

_**Chapter title from a episode with the same name on the show Falling Skies (season 2).  
**_

_**And I moved a story arc ahead. Shepard had to push a bit in regard to her condition; I don't think Miranda would do anything unless pushed in the right direction. It's a little fluffy, but the first drafts were even more so, Miranda is a little less emotional now which I think is better. I think I have struck a nice balance now. A few different words and even removal of lines can make a whole lot of difference.**_

_**A shout out to xXserialkillerXx for assistance on the part of the Miranda/Shepard conversation surrounding the issue that bugged her, and also for some assistance on the Garrus/Shepard banter, and assistance on additional changes and dialogues made on 2012-11-13 and 2012-11-14.  
**_

_**Thanks for the reviews and keep 'em coming!**_

**_Edited 2012-11-14; additional changes, deeper dialogue between Miranda and Shepard plus Miranda have a few deeper thoughts on several subjects._**


	25. Insights

_**The start of this chapter is a continuation of what I added sometime ago in chapter 19, just a reminder if anyone missed that.**_

* * *

The Normandy's night shift had begun the transition for the day shift early on the next morning. While the day shift's watch officers had been up for sometime, so they could eat before they were briefed by their counterparts of the night shift, the rest of the enlisted personnel was now swarming the mess hall for breakfast before starting the day. As everyone pulled their own weight onboard the warship, a line people assembled near the kitchen and as many as possible was at the cramped kitchen preparing their breakfast. Some waited patiently for the others to finish up, while a few was impatiently waiting on their turn.

The two tables in the mess hall began to fill up as the marines began eating. Idle chatter was heard as various topics were discussed amongst them. At one of the tables sat the War Room guards and a few CIC operators and discussed the latest mission Shepard and the others had undertaken.

Private Westmoreland washed down some bread with a glass of water and contemplated when she put down the glass in front of her, "One would think that a STG base on their own planet would be better secured then it really was."

Campbell who sat in front of Westmoreland shrugged, "Well, the rumor is that they were sold out by one of their own. It's hard to defend against a traitor if you don't know about it. Plus Cerberus got Reaper tech, against that the salarians might as well have thrown rocks at them."

One of the CIC operators who sat across the table, Private Jones, chimed in, "Don't be so melodramatic Sarah. Do you even have a clue what Reaper tech is?"

Campbell said sardonically after she took a sip of her juice, "It's just the technology used by a race of sentient machines that wiped out the protheans."

"Well, you know, rocks seemed to have worked pretty well against Sovereign. Do you remember?" Jones asserted.

Campbell sighed, "But that doesn't excuse that the salarians were taken with their pants down. Shouldn't they have contingencies in place?"

"Not everything is bullet proof, but the salarians maybe should've been more careful."

"Maybe?" Westmoreland looked up and asked rhetorically.

"It was a secret base. It's called that because it wasn't supposed to be attacked in the first place. We found out about it last minute anyway." Jones responded calmly and ate a piece of bread.

Jones' fellow CIC operator who sat next to him, Private Dieter, said, "The Commander and the other's kicked ass so we lucked out."

"How do you know it was last minute? They should have prepared before they headed groundside. Something doesn't add up." Westmoreland countered.

Various other marines near them began to give them curious looks as they listened into the conversation

Dieter snickered sarcastically, "Are you two going to conjure up something about the XO? Maybe she informed Cerberus and they launched an attack in mere minutes from nowhere."

"Fuck you Dieter. How do you know they are not lying to us when it serves them?" Westmoreland retorted derisively.

Dieter shook his head, "Ever heard of something called operational security?"

With that, both Dieter and Jones decided to dive into the food on their plates.

There were a few minutes of silence as they continued to eat and drink. Other marines in attendance diverted their eyes elsewhere and continued their own conversations. The topics of conversation also began to change from the war to other trivial matters just so they could get their minds of the war for a few minutes.

Campbell had been busy with the food on her own plate when she looked up and asked no one in particular, "So what about that traitor on Sur'Kesh, how did they get to him? Indoctrination?"

"To me indoctrination is a buzzword meaning traitor." Westmoreland commented in an off-hand manner.

Jones frowned, "Wow, did you even believe they were coming before they landed on your face? Now suddenly you are an expert on everything Reaper?"

"Did you ever believe?" Westmoreland countered.

Jones shook his head, "No, I didn't. But I, and everyone else, was proven wrong and I think the Commander deserves better then to be second guessed. Again."

"Yeah, because you thought the Commander was nuts!" Westmoreland retorted.

Another marine that had been listening in on the discussion chimed in, "Hey! The Commander deserves some respect."

Westmoreland sighed bitterly, "You can keep your blind sense of loyalty."

Campbell murmured, "I agree, the Commander is no saint."

The marine shrugged and dismissively waved his hand at them.

Dieter raised an eyebrow, "Give me a break! So the man that warned everyone about the Reapers is what, serving them? Serving Cerberus?"

"It's just that something just doesn't feel right with his dealings with Cerberus, and everyone seems to sweep that under the rug." Campbell argued.

"And the Council didn't even grant him SPECTRE status last year when he showed up from nowhere. What did he do all those years?" Westmoreland continued.

"SPECTRE undercover work?" Dieter suggested.

Campbell sighed, "That doesn't make any sense, he wasn't reinstated and then we locked him in."

"Plausible deniability?"

Campbell shrugged and shook her head and continued to eat.

"Doesn't Cerberus claim they are fighting the Reapers? But do we know what they are really doing? Both Mars and Omega is really disturbing. Commander Shepard worked for them and who knows what really happened back then." Westmoreland countered.

Jones chuckled derisively, "You repeat yourself like a broken old record Bethany. Can you backup anything you make up?"

Westmoreland snorted, "There's plenty of proof if you look hard enough and read between the lines."

"Yeah whatever Sherlock, we'll be waiting for it while Commander Shepard is gathering support for Earth." Jones responded evenly.

"The damn Council isn't doing much for Earth." Campbell snorted. "And now it rests on the turians and krogan making nice."

A scowl formed on Westmoreland's face, "The Council is fucking useless. The Reapers hit Earth hardest and they won't lift a finger while humans are being harvested! They don't give a shit about us!"

Jones frowned, "Maybe you should have joined Cerberus instead."

"What, because I think the Council can't get anything right I'm suddenly Cerberus? A Council race was attacked and they don't do a thing! The aliens only care about themselves. They are dumb as a bunch of rocks and are sitting this fight out."

Jones said gloomy, "Have you even seen the news feeds from Palaven? The turians are getting slaughtered; I'm amazed they can withstand such punishment."

"Do you think it's any better on Earth?" Westmoreland countered furiously. "Almost two million people are dying every day! And instead of doing something – anything – the turians are getting slaughtered on their own turf."

"And _do you_ think it's any better on Palaven? The birds don't quit when it gets ugly, you at least have to give them that"." Jones chided.

"And what are they achieving exactly? We sacrificed Second fleet so we could run away from the Reapers and regroup. The turians can't be doing much better!"

Another marine chimed in angrily, "I always knew the Council was useless. Cerberus was right about one thing; we need to fend for ourselves no one else will help us!"

"The other races are guarding their own borders; we would do the same if we were in their boat." Jones turned to the man on his left and said annoyed. "And if you could defend Earth, would you just throw everything out the window and go help another race?"

The other marine mumbled something under his breath and returned to his plate.

"But the Reapers are pushing us back and we're losing foothold." Campbell argued. "If the damn aliens got their heads out of the sand they would see that the Reapers are using the oldest trick in the book, divide and conquer."

"Goddamn machines." Dieter spat angrily, "I knew a few guys from boot camp that served with Second, and half my family is stuck on Earth! It's taking to slow, and these alien shits need to realize diplomacy can't fix everything. When the geth started their uprising the quarians did the right thing to attack them!"

"The turians are better than the salarians, and especially the asari with their superiority complex that show their true colors. Their idea of reinforcements is to send us an information broker." Jones stated.

Dieter sighed, "Yeah, maybe. The turians are at least doing something. It's just hard to accept that things are moving so slow."

Westmoreland snorted derisively, "The asari. The Reapers haven't even moved against them and those cowards are instead parading their fleets over their own territory and defending diplomats on the Citadel. They probably want to talk the Reapers to death."

"We lost Earth and yet we retook Omega from Cerberus while the other races only whine how they can't spare anything." Campbell said.

"You think it's a coincidence that we have an 'ex-Cerberus' operative on board?" Westmoreland pondered out loud.

"Come again?" Dieter asked.

"So it just so happens that our _'great'_ XO comes onboard right before we attack Omega, and we come up with nothing worthwhile? Cerberus probably took everything of value before we arrived and enough data was left behind not to make us suspicious so she can slip them intelligence she gets from seducing the Commander. If she knew about Sur'Kesh earlier there would probably be no krogan female left to save."

"That data stuff does seem almost plausible." Jones said in a low voice.

"Thank you." Westmoreland said smugly.

Jones taunted, "Of course. Bethany Westmoreland; creating convoluted answers to trivial questions since -65."

Westmoreland frowned.

Dieter said skeptically. "So why doesn't she just assassinate the krogan female?" Dieter tilted his head to the infirmary behind him where Mordin was hard at work and Eve was located.

Westmoreland shrugged, "It would be too obvious."

Jones interjected, "Wait! So where did you hear about the data?"

"I heard Vakarian and T'Soni talk a little about it a few days ago. T'Soni mentioned the little she had found so far wasn't really anything worthwhile."

"Yeah, but are any of you aware that sending something out from the ship will be detected by the AI." Dieter pointed out dismissively. "So even if the XO was feeding Cerberus information, she would get caught in a heartbeat."

Westmoreland frowned, "The ship was built by Cerberus, and it's not too much of a stretch that she would have a loop hole somewhere."

"Uh-huh, but it was torn apart piece by piece by the Alliance and put back together. Anything suspect would have been removed. Nothing gets in or out without the onboard systems noticing."

Jones saw movement at the kitchen and noticed an officer, Ensign Copeland, walking in. Jones coughed in his hand whilst he said, "Incoming."

Their discussion quickly died down as everyone turned their attention to the Ensign.

Copeland turned to the two tables of marines, "Alright people, it's another workday. Breakfast is over."

The assembled crew acknowledged the officer and quickly rose from the tables with their plates and headed for the kitchen.

* * *

Shepard slowly woke up under the bed sheet and felt the warmth from Miranda snuggled close to him. Her head was rested on his shoulder and she held him close. His own arm was draped underneath her and he could feel her soft skin on her back with his fingers. Shepard couldn't help but smile at the scene.

A quick look at the clock on the night stand and he figured out that the day shift was most likely in place, and that the Normandy had undoubtedly arrived at the Krogan DMZ a few hours earlier. Shepard leaned in and gave her a soft kiss that he knew would wake her up. Miranda certainly was a light sleeper, more so then he was. A side effect from her days with Cerberus no doubt.

Miranda slowly woke up and moaned drowsily, "Mmmm…" She reciprocated the kiss and smiled when her eyes slowly opened.

"Good morning." Shepard said.

"Good morning." Miranda purred and kissed his lips again.

Miranda shifted position and rested her head on the pillow so she could look into Shepard's eyes. She placed a hand on his torso and pressed her body closer and she smirked, "Any plans for the day?"

"I was planning to have breakfast with a brunette." He rested his arm around her waist under the bed sheet and caressed her back with his finger tips.

"Could be arranged." Miranda teased.

Shepard chuckled and he continued, "Was planning to have a talk with Eve. She seems very different from other krogan. I have never met a female krogan before."

"Can I accompany you?" Miranda asked and let her hand slide down his torso, lightly caressing him. "I'm rather intrigued myself actually."

"If you wish." Shepard said. "After that I planned a trip down to the gym. You?"

Miranda feigned discontent, "Oh? So while you are lifting weights, I'm supposed to write reports on the summit and the mission?" Miranda shook her head lightly, "Tsk, tsk, tsk…"

Shepard chuckled, "Well, if you need my help I'll provide it."

Miranda smiled mischievously, "Considering you are so obedient, I'll call for you if I need you."

"Duly noted, Ms. Lawson." Shepard said with a grin. He took a breath of her scent and asked with care, "How do you feel after last night?"

Miranda kissed his lips and smirked when they parted, "The sex wasn't too bad."

Shepard chuckled, "That wasn't really what I meant, but I agree."

Miranda propped her elbow on the pillow and rested her head in the palm of her hand and asked seriously, "You mean my infertility?"

"Yes." Shepard responded sober.

"I don't know." She answered sincerely. "I don't really know what to expect. Maybe Mordin can come up with something in the long run."

"You did reveal a lot last night. A little unexpected."

"Yes, and I blame your bloody influence for it." Miranda teased and gave him a mock-glare.

Shepard chuckled and drew her closer for a new kiss.

They parted and Miranda shook her head, "You've turned me into a love crazed woman."

Shepard smirked, "I'm not entirely sorry for it."

Miranda plopped her head down on the pillow instead, "I'm not opposed to it, but..." Miranda drifted away as she tried to find the right words.

"Old habits are hard to change?" Shepard asked a few silent moments later

Miranda nodded, "Yes, a little." But then she shook her head, "But I've already told you this."

Shepard nodded and removed a lock of hair from her face, "So how is your sister by the way?"

"Oriana is fine, we exchange e-mails regularly. She has a lot to do in that refugee encampment. Thankfully to all the Alliance intel I can read now I can keep an eye on any developing situation if I sense something is wrong."

"Good." Shepard said sincerely.

Miranda shook her head, "And she's always full of questions. Thankfully they can be easily ignored in a mail rather if she asked them directly."

"It's hard to imagine you having a girl talk." Shepard chuckled.

"That's my sister's influence on me, she enjoys pushing my buttons."

"Come on, she's just happy to have a sister in her life." Shepard chided.

Miranda smiled and conceded, "Yes, I know she is. And so am I. She just wants to be part of my life and takes interest in it."

"Exactly." Shepard took on a thoughtful expression, "Should I be worried what kind of details you reveal?"

"No, some things I leave untold." She looked at him and narrowed her eyes, "And I certainly hope you don't tell any intimate details to anyone."

"I don't, I promise."

"Good. There would be hell to pay." Miranda warned with mirth in her eyes.

Shepard smirked and leaned in closer and kissed her lips passionately which Miranda eagerly reciprocated. Miranda moaned contently as Shepard let his hand wander to her hip and began caressing. They parted for air after a minute and smiled at each other. Miranda was about to say something but was cut short when Shepard began kissing anew. He rolled her on her back and hovered above her and quickly held her down into the soft bed with his own arms as their kissing deepened.

Miranda was pinned down and under his control. She wasn't submissive and wanted to be in control. But Shepard definitely had a plan, and unless Miranda "cheated" with her biotics Shepard would remain in control. They parted again for air and were breathing heavily. She didn't break eye contact with him and saw the desire in his eyes.

Miranda smirked and teased, "You better impress me John, or I'll take control."

Shepard grinned and tossed the bed sheet aside and leaned in again and began kissing her neck as he spread her legs underneath the blanket with his knee. He lowered down and trailed a line of soft kisses down her neck and chest; he caressed her body which only intensified Miranda's aroused state. She rested her head on the soft pillows and watched the beautiful scenery above in the window as the stars flew by.

Shepard continued down her abdomen and slowed down his kissing in anticipation, Miranda's own breathing quickened as her torso heaved up and down. Nearing the very end of her abdomen Shepard took a detour to her leg and trailed a line of kisses down her thigh and Miranda's eyes fluttered close as Shepard-

Suddenly EDI's synthetic voice cut through the room, _"Good morning Commander."_

_No!_ Miranda's mind cursed the AI for interfering and Miranda opened her eyes in surprise.

_Why? Couldn't the bloody AI wait another hour?_

To Miranda's dread, Shepard stopped his mesmerizing activity and pulled away and she could hear him sigh. He was just as annoyed as she was. Shepard was about to say something but Miranda quickly cut in and tried to talk as coherent as she could as she tried to control her breathing.

"Is anyone's life hanging by a thread?" Miranda blurted out flustered.

_"No Ms. Lawson."_ Replied the AI in her monotone voice.

"Good, then don't disturb us for another hour or two."

_"Of course Ms. Lawson. My apologies. Logging you out."_

Miranda breathed relived and looked down on her lover who had an amused look on his face. He was about to speak when Miranda commanded, "Less talking and more tongue."

She plopped her head back into the pillow and Shepard chuckled before he began anew all to Miranda's delight.

* * *

In the mess hall Garrus was preparing his breakfast at the kitchen. As a military man, and a former law enforcement officer, he always considered breakfast to be the most important meal on the day, but thankfully while onboard the ship he could always sneak down to the kitchen if he felt hunger creeping up. Next to him stood Liara who was also preparing some food, it looked like human food. The two aliens didn't speak much and soon they headed over to one of the tables were they found Wrex eating as well. The krogan had stacked several large beefsteaks on one and each other.

"Morning Wrex." Liara said and sat down at the table.

"Yeah." The krogan answered whilst he carefully eyed the infirmary in front of him.

"Didn't think you enjoyed the food on the Normandy." Garrus asked as he sat down on the opposite side of Wrex next to Liara.

"It's better than most food onboard."

"You can trust Mordin." Garrus said noticing were Wrex's eyes were, "He wants to help your people."

"Maybe." Wrex mumbled as he turned to his plate instead and cut a piece of a steak and plopped it into his turned to the asari, "So Liara, are you still turning to the dead protheans for answers?"

"It will work Wrex, we will just need to finish building the Crucible." Liara answered with firm belief. After taking a sip of water from her glass she eyed the krogan carefully, "Although I'm interested to know how you learned about it."

Wrex shrugged, "Wasn't that hard. You are lucky you are keeping its location more secret then its existence."

"I'm glad you think we're doing something right."

"Yeah, let's see if Shepard keeps that up." Wrex said and ate some of his steaks.

Garrus looked up from his own plate, his mandibles twitched, "You don't think Shepard can get us through this?"

"It's a tall order." Wrex murmured.

"If we get an alliance together it'll be a step in the right direction." Garrus said before he ate some of his food.

Wrex looked up at his two former team mates in front of him, "Who is that black haired female Shepard is with?"

"Miranda Lawson?" Liara asked.

"I think I recognize her from Tuchanka from last year."

Garrus chuckled, "She is his new main squeeze."

"Garrus..." Liara sighed unamused and shook her head.

"What?" Garrus asked dumbfounded. "It's true."

"Did Shepard move on from Williams?" Wrex asked.

"Yeah." Garrus said, "They had a falling-"

Liara interrupted, "Maybe we shouldn't discuss John's personal life."

"It isn't a state secret, Liara. Plus Tali know, Joker as well. The only one out of the loop is Wrex." Garrus joked.

"Spill the beans Garrus." Wrex pressed on.

Liara sighed.

"The short version? Williams didn't take Shepard's return very good last year because of his association with Cerberus."

Liara watched Garrus and actually approved of the explanation he gave, she had feared that the turian would be very detailed in his story telling.

Wrex mumbled, "Williams always seemed too high-strung."

Garrus just shrugged and focused on his food.

"Is this Lawson attractive?" Wrex asked with a slight grin.

"Shep seems to think so. I'm not into humans." Garrus responded.

"She's a strong woman, they complement each other." Liara drifted away as she looked down on her plate, "She's lucky."

Garrus noticed Liara's discomfort and cleared his throat, "Did you know that Lawson is former Cerberus, Wrex?"

That got Wrex's attention who looked intently on Garrus, "Really?"

"Yeah, our boy can turn anyone to his cause." Garrus smirked.

"During my first encounter with her, she was a extremely cold person and solely focused on her duty to Cerberus." Liara said. She ate some of her food and continued after she had washed it down with some water, "She's changed since then."

Garrus shrugged, "She's still aloof."

"Can this Cerberus woman be trusted?" Wrex asked concerned. Remembering the recent battle and what Cerberus wanted to achieve.

"_Former," _Garrus iterated. "Yeah, we don't need to worry. She's loyal to Shep."

"Well, I don't doubt Shepard." Wrex said with a shrug, "And if he trusts this female I guess it is no problem."

Garrus grinned, "And Shepard's happy and mellow which spells wonders for the rest of us."

Wrex chuckled before he ate the last steak before he looked up at his old team mates, "I'll talk to you two later." He rose from the table with his plate and everyone said their goodbyes for now.

Garrus and Liara ate in amicable silence for a few minutes.

Liara looked up from her plate, "Despite everything that's going on I like being back with my friends again."

Garrus glanced at her and nodded, "Yeah." Garrus looked down at his plate and fiddled with his fork in the food, "Although some will never return again."

Liara said quietly, "You are all my closest friends. You, John, Tali, Ashley and Wrex. I hope we all make it through this."

Garrus nodded and drank some water from his glass.

"So what were you up to before you got onboard?" Liara asked.

"I tried to bolster Palaven's defenses mostly, unsure if it did any real difference. After Shepard blew up the relay I knew it was time to leave. The Reapers were getting closer. I also managed to patch up things a bit with my father and sister before the invasion. We had a strained relationship for some time."

"That's good to hear Garrus." Liara smiled faintly.

"Yes it is." Garrus shook his head and added, "But you also know they're stuck on Palaven."

"I know, but don't lose hope Garrus." Liara said slowly.

_I'm not big on blind hope Shepard, and it's been a long time since I heard from them. _His words to Shepard earlier echoed through his mind but he didn't say anything out loud to Liara. He merely nodded. A few silent moments dragged on until Garrus shook away his thoughts.

"But enough about me, what were you up to before you boarded the Normandy?" Garrus asked.

Liara shrugged, "Oh, you know. This and that."

"Come on, spill it T'Soni." Garrus pressed on.

Liara almost sighed, "Very well, I bumped into Cerberus a few times and fought some intense battles. Then I helped Shepard stop a robotic assassin on Mars and I also discovered plans for a giant prothean doomsday weapon."

Garrus chuckled, "So just this and that?"

"Yeah, all in a day's work." Liara mused before she glanced at Garrus with a knowing smile, "So, Archangel…"

Garrus chuckled, "Ah, you heard about that?"

"Yes. Your exploits on Omega generated quite a few articles, not to mention security footage." Liara pondered, "But there was one thing I couldn't dig up enough on; did you really take out three Blue Suns mercenaries with one bullet?"

Garrus said deadpanned, "Nah, of course not…the third guy had a heart attack, wouldn't be fair to count him."

With half a chukle, Liara shook her head at Garrus' 'modesty'.

* * *

Miranda was in their bathroom looking at her image in the mirror, applying the day's makeup. Earlier she'd taken a warm shower alone, despite some protests from Shepard, but Miranda wanted a few minutes with her own thoughts and had thus wanted Shepard to take the first shower. She smiled briefly before she quickly sprayed on some perfume and put on some new black undergarments and left the bathroom. She walked down to the closet and found Shepard sitting on the bed engrossed in a datapad.

Shepard looked up at the movement in front of him and smiled as his eyes roamed her body, she smiled back at him. It always gave Miranda a shiver down the spine when he admired her. They didn't speak to each other while she got dressed at the closet near him, but she could feel his eyes on her. A few minutes later she was dressed in a new satin blouse, light blue this time, and a pair of black pants. She heard Shepard move behind her and then hugged her frame from behind.

Shepard leaned against her neck and took in her scent as his arms wrapped around her abdomen.

Miranda smiled, "Something I can do for you, _Commander_?" She added his rank with a suggestive tone.

"A lot..." Shepard answered hugging her closer and kissed her neck softly. "I love that curvy body of yours."

One of Miranda's eyebrows rose up and she feigned annoyance , "You think I'm fat?"

Shepard tensed and coiled back a bit, "No, absolutely not I just-"

Miranda laughed as she turned around in his embrace and planted a hand on his chest, "I'm just teasing." She could feel his heart beating and the heat from his body and how he shivered from her touch.

Shepard could see the mirth in her eyes and the grin that graced her lips. He shook his head, "That wasn't fair."

Miranda leaned in and planted a lingering kiss on his lips. She pulled back a bit when they parted and sucked on his lower lip before letting go.

Shepard breathed out, "You are such a tease Miri."

Miranda smirked, she loved teasing her lover, "You'll have to patiently wait until this evening. There might be a lot of dirty sex then."

Shepard chuckled, "It might be difficult to wait that long."

She shot him an evil grin as she moved her arms around his neck, "But you will have to play your cards right of course."

"Ah, always playing the angle Ms. Lawson." Shepard quipped. "Didn't I win a few points this morning?"

She purred, "Mmm, well I did enjoy that wake-up call." Miranda planted a soft kiss on his lips once again.

Shepard grinned after they parted, "I thought you would."

"I hope the rest of the morning was satisfactory as well."

Shepard smirked, "You are such a selfless temptress Miri."

Miranda laughed, "Temptress you say?"

"Uh-huh."

She smiled for a few moments before she rolled her eyes and scoffed as she glanced at the direction of the AI console by the fish tank, "Bloody AI disturbing us like that."

Shepard chuckled, "Yes, it wasn't the best timing ever."

Miranda turned her eyes back to Shepard and shook her head.

"I thought it would kill the mood." Shepard mused.

Miranda nodded but smirked, "It almost did, but I enjoyed myself to much to have you stop."

Shepard grinned, "I'm happy to oblige." He released his hold of Miranda. "I better check up on what EDI actually wanted."

Miranda nodded and Shepard walked up the stairs to the AI console. Miranda closed the closet and followed suit.

Shepard stopped at the AI console pressed the call button and EDI's representation showed up immediately.

_"Yes Shepard?"_

"Was there something you wanted earlier EDI?" Shepard asked.

_"We arrived at the Krogan DMZ a few hours ago Shepard."_

"Figured as much." Miranda said as she arrived next to Shepard.

_"We have also made contact with a turian carrier strike group centered around the carrier Ferrata."_

Shepard raised an eyebrow, "That's interesting, didn't think the turians would arrive that quickly. Any communication with them?"

_"Negative Shepard, they tagged us, we tagged them. Last position we had on them was when they headed for the gas giant Ruam and disappeared behind it."_

"Lying in wait for something?" Miranda asked.

Shepard shrugged, "Probably just a turian tactic. I'll ask the Primarch about their presence later. What's the ETA on the Seventh Fleet?"

_"About one day."_ EDI Responded

"And what about the CDEM garrisons?" Shepard asked.

_"Apparently they've all been evacuated."_

"As I suspected, probably being used in the war. Alright EDI, thank you."

_"You are welcome Shepard. I would also like to extend my apologies for the earlier interruption, I respect both you and Ms. Lawson's privacy."_

"Well that's water under the bridge by now." Shepard replied slightly flustered, wondering how much the AI figured out was happening a few hours earlier. _Probably everything._

_"Logging you out Shepard."_ EDI said and disappeared.

Miranda shook her head and iterated, "Bloody AI."

Shepard turned to Miranda and grinned slightly, "Well, now that's taken care of, I was hoping for some breakfast with this brunette I'm seeing."

Miranda frowned but was amused, "Considering the time it's much closer to lunch actually."

Shepard shrugged with a faint smile, "How about the middle road, brunch?"

Miranda chuckled, "If you make the food, John."

"I think I can manage." Shepard replied deadpanned and offered her his hand which she accepted.

* * *

The reminder of the morning quickly passed by, Shepard and Miranda had shared a late breakfast in the mess hall which was void of the crew as they were manning the important areas of the ship. Shepard and Miranda passed the time with small talk until they finished up and did away with the kitchenware in the dishwasher.

Shepard straightened himself from the dishwasher and turned to Miranda next to him, "I'm heading over to Eve now, you wanted to join?"

"Very much so." Miranda smiled. "I'm intrigued by her; she seems very different from male krogan."

Shepard agreed, "She sure does."

The couple made the short trip through the mess hall and to the infirmary. They walked through the doors and found Mordin at the scientific equipment busy with some important tests. Eve was seated on the same bed as she had been the night before.

"Good morning Mordin, everything's alright I hope?" Shepard said friendly as both he and Miranda did a quick stop next to Mordin.

The salarian didn't turn away from his equipment and responded absentmindedly, "Hmm, yes. Lots of work to do. Too bad about my lab. Infirmary is well suited, but change to room layout very confusing."

Shepard chuckled, "Well, you have to make due."

"Oh, yes no problems at all. I'm on track with cure." Mordin turned away from his equipment and looked at Miranda and said carefully, "Have some findings from last night's tests as well. Reason you are here?"

Miranda shook her head, "Not exactly Mordin, we're here to talk to Eve." Miranda smiled, "But we can discuss what you found later."

"Ah, yes of course. Eve enjoys meeting new people. It will be good for her." Mordin gave the two humans a nod and turned back to his machines.

Both Shepard and Miranda walked towards Eve who had noticed when they entered the infirmary. The krogan had heard the conversation with Mordin and she slid off the bed and spoke gratefully.

"I wish to thank you Commander for your efforts yesterday, saving my life. I truly didn't believe the krogan had many friends left in the galaxy."

Shepard stopped in front of Eve, "We need to stand united against the Reapers. The krogan people have paid long enough for their mistakes. I hope you will take advantage of this opportunity."

Miranda took a seat on the bed next to Eve's bed and crossed her legs. She watched the krogan with apparent interest. Up until this point the only krogan she had worked with was Grunt, and she had only spent a limited time near Urdnot Wrex. Grunt was what she had expected from a krogan, and even if Miranda didn't believe that the Clan Leader was far from level headed, Shepard clearly respected him and saw something she didn't. And Shepard apparently was also adamant that the krogan could change under the right circumstances. And the few moments she had observed Eve had made an impression on her.

Eve spoke understandingly, "And so do I. It is no surprise that it takes a crisis like this for anybody to think about giving us another chance. Our past actions hardly inspired cooperation."

Shepard nodded and smiled disarmingly, "Knowing each other's names is a good start." Shepard motioned towards Miranda, "This is Miranda Lawson, my XO." Shepard turned back to the female krogan, "And I'm John Shepard. I feel bad not knowing your name."

Miranda gave Eve a friendly nod and extended her hand, "Pleasure to meet you."

Eve shook Miranda's hand and gave her a nod of her own before she turned back to Shepard.

"When I became Shaman of the female clan, I gave up my name." Eve explained. "I belong to my sisters now. But maybe once all this is over, you can know it."

Shepard nodded, "I understand. Is it alright if we call you Eve? Or do you prefer Shaman?"

Eve was a little confused, "Mordin...named me that didn't he? What's the significance of that? He didn't truly explain other then it was fitting because of something regarding human mythology."

Miranda smiled friendly and chimed in, "Adam and _Eve_ were the first man and woman according to some human religions. First God created Adam, and then Eve as his companion. According to those beliefs, the rest of humanity followed through their children."

Eve turned to Miranda and contemplated her words, "I can see the metaphor in that statement." She turned to gaze upon both humans, "You may call me what you wish."

"Alright." Shepard said. "Both Miranda and I were on Tuchanka last year; we saw the brutal experiments Maelon was doing."

Eve agreed, "Yes, they were brutal. Maelon had good intentions, but as time progressed his methods became more barbaric. We learned that too late. We managed to escape when his work was shut down and Clan Weyrloc was weakened. I was informed that you played a role in that?"

Shepard nodded, "Most likely, we were there because Dr. Solus was led to believe that Maelon had been kidnapped by Clan Weyrloc. It was intended as a rescue mission, but we learned the true nature of what was happening when we confronted Maelon and shut down the operation. We could not let Clan Wayrloc to use the cure to dominate other clans."

Miranda chimed in, "How did you get from there to Sur'Kesh?"

Eve glanced at Miranda, "All means of transport were destroyed. We were escorted on foot by the remains of the Clan into the wasteland. We were so sick because of the experiments. We were slowing them down to a crawl. Soon enough they left us to die convinced that we were dead weight. We lost track of time, we had no idea how long we were in the wastelands, and then a salarian team stumbled upon us. They rescued us and brought us to Sur'Kesh, where they discovered we had been cured."

"My condolences." Miranda said in a low voice.

"It was a painful experience, but it was worth it."

"I'm sorry. Maelon didn't say anything that suggested that he succeeded. We searched the hospital and found no reason to believe that any females made it through and even if they did, our resources were limited. We could not risk a counter-attack." Shepard said

"I understand. The youngest, Kurn, was the last one to go. But she knew she would enter the void free of this curse, and then smile as she looked down on our children. Her spirit will be the midwife to my firstborn."

"So how did you get involved in the experiments?"

"Maelon first spoke with Wrex about the work he wanted to do, but he declined." Eve began explaining. "After that the rumors spread among several clans and the salarian then sought Clan Weyrloc instead. By then my sisters and I volunteered when we heard he wanted to cure the genophage for Weyrloc."

"Weren't they a rival clan?"

Eve sighed morosely and shook her head, "It's the males that are preoccupied with rivalries, it's their construct. Wrex mistrusted the salarian to much. He thought he was protecting us, but it is during his reign that the females regained some of their voice. Others had tried in the last few thousand years, but never succeeded. The path to a new Tuchanka and a future for our people can only be achieved if the females took back our place in society. And Maelon was our best hope."

Shepard said, "Wrex had some bad history involving people trying to cure the genophage. They tended to have an agenda. Maelon may have found the cure, but getting into the hands of clan Weyrloc would undo all the strides that Wrex had made and plunge Tuchanka into an all-out war between the clans. The krogan would once again provide the best reason why they can't be trusted. The fact that things didn't turn out that way was pure luck."

Eve pondered Shepard's words and then said thoughtfully, "Maybe. We were desperate for change; to break the vicious circle. We hoped that Clan Urdnot would get a hold of what our sacrifice would help develop for our species."

Miranda asked, "Your females were able to hold positions of power in the krogan society at some point?"

Eve nodded, "Yes, but those times are long gone. A lot of things have been lost in time since Tuchanka was turned into a wasteland."

"When did that change?"

"The nuclear bomb. It was both a blessing and a curse. First it cut short the endless wars that Clans waged against each other. It created a period of unprecedented growth and prosperity. But unfortunately after it had been deployed, a chain reaction began that lead to our downfall. This new type of war brought upon unprecedented casualties; destruction of industries and cities as well as dwindling food supplies. The planet's population plunged rapidly. The nuclear winter, coupled with radiation, largely negated the krogan birth rate. As the situation got worse women's influence on society had systematically decreased as culture become more and more masculine. Necessities of war caused more and more females to become incubators for future warriors. All they knew was war and destruction. Creating a vicious cycle of despair that had no end. Eventually on the rubble arouse a status quo, and the krogan people have never recovered since then."

""Would you do it again? Join Maelon?" Shepard inquired.

"Absolutely. It only takes one candle to light a fire. And then darkness is no more."

Shepard glanced at the salarian professor hard at work at the counter, "What do you think of Dr. Solus? I trust he has been treating you well?"

"He has been treating me much better then what krogan males do. He's not a typical salarian. Even with my limited interaction with them, he seemed so much more...affected by the state of my sisters and me than any other salarian on that base. He cared."

Miranda wasn't surprised that the Shaman's impression of salarians was so slanted. History always colored people's views, and krogans were not known for their thoughtfulness and understanding. Eve was still one of the shining examples. Miranda remembered very well how over a year ago they were worried if they brought Mordin to Tuchanka that they would be ripped apart and all the hatred that seeped through the krogan at mere mention of the name salarian. No wonder that the usual contact between both races were through the STG.

From Mordin they heard a low but fast paced mumbling as he discussed his work with himself, the three of them turned to observe him, "No, no, no - organ redundancy results in new period before metaphase. Can't alter that. Damage to telomeres. Premature aging..."

Shepard faintly smiled as he turned back to Eve, "He does that."

Eve spoke with concern, "But I sense much pain in him as well. He told me about his work on the genophage, and in my eyes he should be an enemy, but the affect we had on him changed something in him."

Shepard nodded, "Mordin was always troubled by his work on the genophage, but he thought he made a tough but necessary decision. I think he hoped that one day it would no longer be the right choice. The Reapers seem to have that effect. People don't want the genophage. They just don't want krogan killing them anymore."

Mordin began absentmindedly to sing quietly from himself, "Asari-vorcha offspring have an allergy to dairy and...da-di-di-dee..."

Shepard chuckled a bit, "Well, whatever changed definitely didn't change his tone deafness."

Miranda smiled and shook her head.

Shepard cleared his throat, "I hope you don't mind me asking, but how is it living with the genophage?"

"Difficult." Eve began with agony in her voice. "I knew sisters who couldn't live with the shame of infertility. They wanted to end their lives and wandered off into the harsh wastelands, hoping they would be killed by a thresher maw."

"Did that thought ever cross your mind?" Shepard asked poignantly.

Eve looked down and was silent for a few moments as she thought about Shepard's question. She looked up and spoke in a low voice. "Yes it did, after I had my first stillborn. But when I held my dead child in my arms my life truly began. It was then I decided I needed to become a Shaman. Because of the genophage, the krogan are forced to live on hope that things will change for us, we don't have anything else. Hope is the only reason we have to exist."

"That sounds..." Shepard struggled to find any words to convey his thoughts. "It is unfortunate. The genophage doesn't discriminate against innocents."

"Yes. But I doubt we would be so charitable if the situations were reversed."

"And when the genophage is no more, what then?" Miranda asked.

Eve gazed upon Miranda, "Our species will find its balance again. We need to help ourselves and everyone else remember that the krogan can do more than just destroy. The men of our species lost their way and I think the females need to rise up and help us become a proud people, once again."

Miranda contemplated, "Most krogan males seem to seek out violence. Shoot anything that moves. They revel in it."

Eve shrugged, "That's the _'curse'_ of the genophage. Many feel hopeless, our species have stagnated and what else is there for them to do? Violence has become their excuse to earn 'honor' and to justify their existence."

Shepard said, "Speaking of males, Wrex has done a lot to tame that chaos."

Eve turned to Shepard, "I honestly think that Wrex is the best thing that has happened to our species in a long time. Although I won't tell him that, it would go to his head, and his head is to big already. Literally."

Shepard chuckled and continued, "And to think that when I met him, he was just as biter and self-destructive as the others. He turned into a great leader, rallying the clans around him. He had some radical ideas last year."

"Wrex wants what is best for us, I know that. But he's only one krogan, and there are many out there who seek revenge for the genophage. Not everyone see things his way."

"I'm well aware of that. It will be hard to try to change the values that have been pounded into the heads of krogan for so long."

"Yes. They are too blind to see that they destroying hopes for a better future. All they know are misguided definitions of honor that there is tremendous pressure to uphold."

Miranda spoke up after listening in, "And aren't you afraid that Urdnot Wrex will want to seek revenge for the genophage?"

"There are those clans that will expect that from him I'm sure. But I hope he can withstand the pressure." Eve sighed, "He's only but one krogan, but many of my sisters will do anything possible to steer the krogan to the right path. Wrex understands that if the krogan people are to take part in the galactic community, the circle of violence must end."

"It certainly must." Miranda mused thoughtfully.

"I had no idea that the krogan had female Shamans. I bumped into a male Shaman last year on Tuchanka." Shepard said.

Eve nodded, "Wisdom come from pain, and the genophage has made us very wise. There are those of us who don't want to surrender to despair and instead choose to preserve the ancient ways. A Shaman's responsibility is to safeguard krogan culture, knowledge and secrets. We do this so we can pass on our teachings to our children when they live again so the krogan people can flourish once more."

"How do you become a Shaman?" Miranda asked curiously.

"An initiate is locked in a cave for seven days with barely enough food to survive." Eve said and glanced at Miranda. "On the eight day you starve."

Shepard chimed in, "What does starvation prove?"

Eve continued with her eyes on the two humans, "It proves that a krogan have the resolve to become a Shaman. You are given a choice, either claw your way out of the dark cave, or you starve to death."

"That sounds very brutal." Miranda pointed out.

Eve nodded, "It was. But more importantly it teaches you to appreciate the light after living in darkness."

"You obviously made it out. How did you accomplish that?" Shepard asked.

"I dug through the rock the wrong way. I was trapped in complete darkness and silence. I had nothing but my own heartbeats that sustained me."

"What happened?"

Eve produced a white crystal from one of her pockets on her dress, "I found this simple crystal which became my chisel." She handed it over to Shepard, "Take it Commander, as a reminder that in the darkest hour there's always a way out."

Shepard first looked bewildered at the crystal and then he looked at her and said, "It sounds personal. Are you sure you want to give me that?"

Eve nodded, "You are a dear friend of Wrex and you are trying to stop the Reaper menace. You need this more than me."

"Thank you Shaman." Shepard said graciously and looked at the crystal in his hand. It had certainly been in her possession for centuries. He tucked it away in a pocket. Shepard looked up and gave her a friendly smile and extended his hand, "Thanks for sharing with us Shaman, it has been very interesting."

Eve shook Shepard's hand, "It's been my pleasure Commander, and you are welcome any time."

Miranda slid of the bed and extended her hand as well which Eve accepted and Miranda said, "It certainly has Shaman, thank you."

Miranda and Shepard took their leave as the krogan female returned back up on the bed. Miranda crossed the distance to Mordin who was tinkering with his machines and experimenting.

"You had found something Mordin?" Miranda asked as Shepard stopped behind her

Mordin turned to face her and gave her a faint but tired smile, "Ah, yes. Small findings from tests conducted."

Miranda was certainly curious what this would entail, but Miranda also knew that it all could very well just end up the same as when she talked to the doctors on Illium. This all could be futile even if John had made a case why she should seek out Mordin's help. But she did have one ace up her sleeve that she hadn't years earlier; and that was the knowledge from the Lazarus project. Indeed the most complex scientific project to date. But without the core data and any exorbitant funds, she was unsure if it would even help. Without such backing...

_Well, I only need to break into Cronos station, wherever it could be located now, find a computer and download everything connected to the Lazarus project. A walk in the park. I Would probably have to battle through a bunch of Cerberus guards as well._

Miranda sighed inwardly and returned to reality, "Well, when you have time Mordin-"

"We can discuss it now. Have some time in between diagnostic tests." Mordin interrupted.

"Right." Miranda said. She glanced at Eve further down in the infirmary, she didn't want any outsiders to hear about her medical conditions and she was about to ask if the krogan could leave but her eyes caught the door to the AI core instead. Yes, it was well suited and definitely sound proof.

She turned back to Mordin "How about continuing this conversation inside the AI core?"

"By all means, Ms. Lawson."

Behind her Shepard asked, "You want me to be present?"

Miranda turned and nodded and said with a faint smile, "You did say you would be with me all the way so I do expect that now."

Shepard nodded and followed suit as Miranda and Mordin made their way to the AI core room. The door shut close behind them and Miranda punched in the code to lock it. With all the servers and other computer hardware inside it was most likely one of the warmest rooms onboard the ship, despite the built in fans that kept the computers cool while operating 24/7.

Wasting no time, Mordin started talking, "Blood tests suggest a spike in several hormones associated with human reproductive processes."

"I'm aware of that." Miranda said, remembering the test results she had been given years earlier.

"I would assume you underwent a lengthy medical history and physical exam last time?"

"Yes." Miranda said.

"Hmm. To get a precise picture I would need to do the same. Or Dr. Chakwas. Most tests can be made in the infirmary, if not all."

Miranda raised an eyebrow, "Wouldn't that take away time from the work on the genophage cure if the infirmary was occupied to do those tests? Shouldn't your work continue unhampered unless it's a life threatening situation for someone?"

Mordin took a swift inhale, "Understand your reasoning of course, but without full data I'm unsure if I can make a accurate prognosis beyond what I've found."

"Which is?" Miranda inquired.

Mordin continued and said friendly, "The neoplasm should be removed. It's feasible considering its not involved with both ovaries. A regime of fertility drugs to try and enhance reproductive fertility would follow. But your genetic makeup provides...a peculiar obstacle."

_Of course it does_, Miranda thought. That _'little'_ issue was the bane of it all, and it was nothing new to her.

Mordin spoke up again, "There are other options out there; artificial reproductive technologies can be considered."

Miranda had done some extensive reading in the past on all options that she could find. Of course there was a way for her to have children which didn't include any "natural" way of conceiving, but Miranda didn't want to fall to the same level as her father and create a child in a test tube; both Oriana and she had been made that way and it made Miranda feel sick to her core thinking about it. She didn't want to have a child that way. She didn't want to repeat her father's doing. Becoming fertile would also be the ultimate _'fuck you'_ to her father. But it was more than just spite. On one level she wanted this more then before, and it was because of the man standing a meter next to her.

Miranda turned her attention to Mordin. The analysis so far wasn't surprising to her, although Mordin had expressed a glimmer of hopefulness when he described his findings. And she knew he needed to know more about her medical history and also a more thorough physical exam would be needed. But not now. The war, the alliance and the genophage was far more important.

"I'd like to take a look at what you found."

"Of course." Mordin said with a smile. "I'll forward it." The salarian tapped his omni-tool and quickly pressed a few buttons and sent Miranda what he had come up with.

Miranda nodded gratefully and smiled, "I appreciate your thoughts on the matter, Mordin."

"Glad to help. Will continue when downtime permits." Mordin said rapidly.

"We won't disturb you further."

* * *

Miranda and Shepard left the infirmary and headed towards the elevator.

When the door closed behind them, Shepard asked, "So, what do you think? The talk about Eve?"

Miranda looked up thoughtfully, "It was quite stimulating actually. Very interesting. Until recently most of my contacts with the krogan have transpired through the barrel of a gun. And disregarding those, the krogan have been so one sided that it was hard to imagine finding one that's actually reasonable."

"Well, if you knew Wrex you would know that he is very much the same way as Eve. Superficially he is far more aggressive of course, but he doesn't decide anything based on whims."

Miranda was still not thoroughly convinced, "Perhaps. But neither of them are representative of the krogan."

The couple continued past the mess hall and around the corner to the elevator.

Shepard nodded, "I guess so." They stopped at the elevator doors and Shepard grinned, "Maybe I should have taken up that krogan on the mating offer. Then we would be going somewhere. I would squeeze everything out of her during pillow talk."

Miranda wasn't amused by Shepard's joke, but played along, remaining impassive as she turned to him. "As fascinating as that might have been, it still comes a little short. And there's still the possibility that Eve is simply a cunning manipulator."

Shepard shrugged, "Maybe you are right. Usually the krogan are so straight-forward you forget they are actually capable of being manipulative. But for what it's worth, I'm allergic to bull and you didn't see me sneezing."

Miranda frowned a bit, "So you really believe the krogan won't just wreak havoc on the galaxy again?"

Shepard shook his head, "I'm not naïve Miranda and truth to be told, I don't know. All I know is that we need them now more then we will ever fear them. They have potential and they don't deserve to be condemned forever for what they did a thousand years ago. If they are inherently incapable of coexisting with the other races, then let's hope the threat of extinction will keep them from starting another rebellion. And whatever the outcome we can prepare contingencies."

Miranda pondered sardonically, "Hmm, yes. The salarians will love that. Crafting a new genophage and all with strained reasources after a war with the Reapers." Miranda hit the button on the door interface and the elevator opened and she said evenly, "But I understand why we need the krogan, I just think it's risky."

"It is risky, I agree. But we need them." Shepard gestured with his hand towards the life support room behind him, "I'm going to speak to Wrex, among others. See you later?"

Miranda nodded and smiled, "I'd like that. I have some reports to file. A good time for some alone time."

"Working is good time for alone time?" Shepard asked incredulously.

"It is." Miranda said and walked into the elevator. She turned and gave him a wink before the door closed.

* * *

_**It took a while to get this chapter finished. I had some writer's block, plus a lot of ideas and especially energy went into the last chapter. I had to find my muse again so to speak. And I don't feel the need to rush anything out there so a steady stream of chapters should not always be expected. But I'm ok with the end result. My hope and intentions is to have at least one more chapter uploaded before January 2013.  
**_

_****__**Ferrata was the name of a Roman Legion, the Legio sexta Ferrata (the sixth Ironclad Legion). Thought it was a fitting name for a turian carrier considering the turians are inspired by the Roman Empire.**_

_**Ideas and some lines were tossed around with xXserialkillerXx for the beginning of this chapter and I extend a co-developed credit for the genophage conversations and the "curvy"-line plus response.**_

_**Edited (2012-12-12): Just added a few extra lines to the Garrus/Liara conversation.  
**_


	26. Past Experiences

_**Very minor spoilers from Mass Effect: Paragon Lost at the end of the chapter.**_

* * *

Shepard turned away from the elevator and crossed the short distance to the life support room were Wrex had taken up residence for the time being. Shepard swiped his hand over the interface and the door slid open. Shepard walked in and found Wrex sitting at the chair near the table which Thane once used to occupy. Wrex was engrossed in a datapad on the table.

"Wrex." Shepard greeted and walked over.

Wrex looked up from the datapad, "Shepard."

Shepard sat down on the other chair in front of the krogan and asked, "What are you reading?"

"Last night Liara handed me a datapad with intelligence on the Reapers." Wrex answered.

"I see. All settled in Wrex?"

"Yeah, it's good to be back. I even have a window now." Wrex gestured towards the window behind Shepard that overlooked the Normandy's engine. "But the view could be better."

"It's good to see you again Wrex." Shepard said.

Wrex looked up with a wicked grin and snickered, "So you are sleeping with the enemy now."

Shepard chuckled, "No, I wouldn't go that far." Shepard raised an eyebrow, "Who told you anyway?"

Wrex shrugged, "You didn't really hide it when you two went up together to get your armors before Sur'Kesh. I did catch up a few things on human behavior onboard the old Normandy."

"Yeah, right."

"And Vakarian verified it this morning."

"Of course he did." Shepard said deadpanned.

"Attractive?"

Shepard smiled coyly, "She has her moments."

"Uh-huh. Anyway, it was one hell of a show-down on Sur'Kesh, Shepard. Just like the old days. Right down to me soaking up all the enemy fire for you squishy aliens." Wrex boasted.

"I'm surprised you remember how to fight." Shepard shot back.

Wrex laughed. "So, what can I do for you Shepard?"

"I just had a talk with Eve. She has a lot of ideas and strong beliefs."

"Tell me about it. Our women like to talk...then think about it." Wrex sighed dejected, "Then talk about it some more."

Shepard chuckled, "Believe it or not Wrex, but women do have good ideas from time to time. Try and listen to her."

Wrex said unamused, "Yeah, well our women have so many ideas...so sometimes I pretend to listen and...well, let's just say that krogan females don't lack for spirit or tempers."

Shepard grinned, "I can imagine that."

"Right. And they're not all like Eve you know. They don't all have good ideas."

"But Eve had some strong ideas about the future of the krogan. But she was also troubled what could happen. So, how about you? How will you keep the clans under your thumb after all this is over?"

Wrex said evenly, "After the war, most krogan will be dead set on going after the turians and the salarians."

Shepard clenched his teeth but said nothing as Wrex continued.

"But I won't let them; I remember what you told me on Sur'Kesh. We're at a crossroads as a species and the path is forward, not backwards. If the krogan will be part of anything we have to change. We must change. This time it will be different."

Shepard nodded, "You have achieved a great deal so far, but this will be a much greater challenge. Changing the krogan mindset is a long term goal. In the meantime you should try to speak to krogan values by highlighting them in other species. Hopefully history won't be repeated again."

"I am already doing that, but it's a slow process. But it will come in full force once the genophage is no more."

"I can imagine some would call you a traitor. A puppet of the enemy."

"Yes. And some have already done that, but gaining the cure will shut up a lot of the critics and the rest will probably be killed by those who follow me."

"It may not be true now, but the other races will stand behind you and what you have created, but if things don't change that could very well back fire." Shepard pondered.

Wrex nodded, "The war is a great opportunity to show the krogan that they are not the only worthy warriors in the galaxy, but that it will create a sense of camaraderie. Show them that there are different, better ways to see honor and valor. Instead of how it is today, when their rage makes them easy to manipulate in order to do someone else's bidding."

"History is a great teacher."

"And I will spread the stories of the great warlords of different species and the how mighty people the krogan once were."

"You could do that. But Eve hinted at an ancient culture which was lost in war. A different side which the other races might find more intriguing than your warlords."

Wrex snorted, "Not as fun."

Shepard grinned, "Maybe not, but it shows a vastly different side of the krogan which not many know of."

"Maybe you are right Shepard." Wrex pondered thoughtfully. "I'll let Eve talk about those things."

"Have you heard anything new from Tuchanka? The Reaper presence?"

Wrex spoke glum, "I don't like what I hear. There are more reports of Reaper troop transports touching down, loaded with creatures. So far they are far from any clan dwellings."

"No capital ships or destroyers?"

"No. But something big is brewing. I won't let these machines take Tuchanka when we are close to curing the genophage."

Shepard sighed, "I hope you will have better luck then we had with Earth."

There were a few moments of silence as Wrex glanced at Shepard before he spoke, "Well you did a good job rebuilding the Normandy. This one is much roomier." Wrex snickered, "I hope you wouldn't think the leader of the krogan people would be content staying in the cargo bay."

Shepard shrugged and said deadpanned, "Well It wasn't my call. If I was in charge of rebuilding I would have installed a Jacuzzi somewhere. I thought you knew me better than that."

"I didn't know. I was waiting for an invitation"

"The ship was built by Cerberus. They are very capable, when they are not conducting sick experiments." Shepard explained evenly.

Wrex chuckled darkly, "They can't have been too happy when you turned it over to the Alliance."

Shepard shook his head, "Probably not. So, how are things going with Mordin?"

Wrex grunted in discomfort, "That salarian says my DNA is important, so who am I to argue."

"Something wrong?"

Wrex murmured, "He got his samples alright. Let's just say scalpels were never meant to cut were he cut."

Shepard chuckled, "Wrex, you don't want to get into it with Mordin. The guy's one lab accident away from being a super villain."

"Doesn't surprise me. This better cure the genophage, the procedure hurts like hell."

"So how is Grunt doing? Did he get back to all those mating requests?"

Wrex chuckled, "He did alright. But being tank grown didn't win him many points overall at first, but completing the rites did garner some respect for him. I put him in charge of Aralakh Company, my best unit. Grunt exemplifies the bright future of krogan. It didn't sit well with some, but Grunt has since earned his right there and you rubbed off on him. He's a good leader."

Shepard rose from the table, "I'm glad to hear that. It was good talking to you again my friend. I have things to do. I'll see you around."

"Anytime, Shepard."

* * *

Stepping off the elevator on the CIC-deck, and after giving Traynor a courteous nod, Shepard headed through the guard room on the way to the War Room. Shepard had checked in with EDI earlier and the AI had confirmed that Victus was present in the War Room. Arriving at the steps leading down to the center of the room, Shepard saw the Primarch hunched over a computer at the circular table, deep in thought and work.

Shepard headed down the steps and greeted the turian, "Primarch."

Victus looked up from the monitor and gave Shepard a nod as he straightened himself from the table and turned to Shepard.

"Commander, what can I do for you?"

Shepard stopped near Victus and said, "Your forces sure came here quickly."

Victus' mandibles twitched as he gazed on the human and said carefully, "The requested forces haven't been dispatched yet Commander. I think it'll take another day or two for them to arrive."

"But there's a carrier group in the system." Shepard pointed out.

"Yes...but they're not exactly part of the reinforcements I was able to have deployed here."

Shepard raised an eyebrow, finding this very curious "Then, what is the _Ferrata _doing here?"

Victus remained quiet for a few moments before he said evenly, "I can't say Commander."

"Primarch?" Shepard inquired impatient.

Victus said anxiously, "Please Commander, I am not at liberty to discuss that matter and I have already said to much. Rest assured that we are doing everything we can to support the struggle against the Reapers."

Shepard was perplexed as he gazed at Victus and pressed on, "What mission could be more important than curing the genophage which will secure an alliance between you, the krogan and humanity?"

"Please Commander, I can't speak about it." Victus iterated evenly.

Shepard relented. Whatever it was, it certainly was a matter the turian could not discuss. It piqued Shepard's interest, but he understood the importance of secrecy in military operations. This was sometimes hard to remember when so much was at stake. He could of course try and tap in on the communication between Victus and the turian hierarchy or the carrier group, but it was unlikely that any actual sensitive information would be sent through the Normandy despite whatever secure encryption the turians had at hand. And the possible fallout would be potentially catastrophic if he did, and it could certainly spark disastrous political consequences that could sever the newly forged alliance. Not to mention personal repercussion for taking such liberties at interpreting Alliance protocol. The blunder could make Alliance leadership decide that he is no longer worth the trouble. Shepard sighed internally. As long as the turians were committed to supporting the release of the genophage Shepard accepted the current situation. He just hopped they knew what they were doing. For now he could only give the Alliance a heads up and let them handle it.

_Maybe Garrus would know anything about it? But would he spill the beans if he did? _

_But more importantly would the turians tell Garrus anything considering his close relationship with me? _

_Doubtful._

Eventually Shepard nodded at Victus, "Alright Primarch, have a good day."

"And you to Commander." Vicuts said and turned to his computer.

Shepard turned around and left the War Room.

* * *

Shepard continued past the Galaxy Map and through the corridor leading up to the cockpit were Joker sat, helming the Normandy through space. They were at the moment in orbit around Tuchanka.

"Hello Joker." Shepard said and walked into the cockpit, he closed the distance to the seat next to the pilot.

"Hey Commander." Joker said enthusiastically as he turned to Shepard who proceeded to sit down in the seat.

"Everything's alright up here?" Shepard asked as he turned the seat slightly to his left so he could look at Joker.

"Yeah, no problems here. As per usual it's a little dull. But I got enough entertainment on my computer I can watch."

"Uh-huh." Shepard stated dubiously as he observed Joker.

"What? Just a few random action movies and a few dozens of hours of music." Joker said innocently before he shrugged, "And if I get bored of that I can always chat with EDI."

Shepard nodded.

Joker grinned mischievously, "Speaking of which, EDI said she couldn't reach you earlier. Were you two-"

"Joker!" Shepard exclaimed warningly. "Don't go there."

Joker chuckled and shook his head, "Aye aye Commander."

"That carrier group out there," Shepard said so he could steer the conversation away from personal matters, "do you have anything on it?"

"Not really. They did send up a few fighters our way, flew past us a few times and then they flew home. But I was asleep then so I have no idea."

"The Primarch didn't want to discuss it. Piqued my interest."

"Really?" Joker said surprised. "I thought they were reinforcements to support the genophage cure."

"Yeah, but not technically."

Joker shrugged. "Alright." Then the pilot said deadpanned, "You know Commander; it's good having Mordin back here. The bad guys shouldn't have monopoly on mad scientists. It's time we secured one of our own."

Shepard grinned, "I agree, it feels like the gang is slowly coming back home."

"Yeah. And I know I used to rag on Garrus for being all angry, but I'm glad he's back." Joker paused and contemplated dejected, "There's a whole lot of crap out there that needs a bullet between the eyes."

"Yeah, there is." Shepard agreed.

Joker continued deadpanned, "Plus we might need something calibrated."

Shepard chuckled lightly.

"I've been thinking, all this about the genophage and all the politics is bull."

"You don't say?" Shepard asked sarcastically.

"I mean, both the turians and krogan ought to get behind this alliance." Joker exclaimed, "They got some much in common!"

"They do?" Shepard asked bewildered.

"Yeah. You know, shooting things and not wanting to die..." Joker trailed off and reflected thoughtfully before he shrugged and said deadpanned, "No, that's about it."

EDI's avatar appeared on the other end of the cockpit near Joker and the AI chimed in, _"I have questions about the genophage Shepard."_

Joker pointed out the obvious in his off-hand manner, "You and everyone else."

Shepard glanced at the avatar, "What do you want to know?"

_"According to my data, a fertile female can produce up to 1000 fertilized eggs over the course of a year. Estimates show there is over one billion females on Tuchanka, so if one percent would be able to reproduce, they could birth ten billion hatchlings." _

Shepard pondered EDI's calculations; not even he had thought about it in those numbers. He realized the importance of the krogan for the war effort, but those numbers made him feel overwhelmed. He had faith in both Wrex and his entourage to keep the krogan on their leash, but that was the problem. That was why the whole thing was so risky and dangerous.

Too much of the fragile stability on Tuchanka depended on Wrex. Shepard wasn't sure if and how long the threat of annihilation would stop a species that was so ill prepared. Would it become a cycle that ultimately leads to the destruction of the krogan people? Shepard wasn't an expert on krogan society by a long shot, but he hoped that there were enough krogan that longed for change who could continue that struggle even if things went south. Even if he just recently met a krogan female for the first time, who was very different from other krogan he had encountered, Miranda's words still echoed in his mind. It was asinine and naïve to think that a single krogan could be that significant, but it gave Shepard hope that there were more like her.

Shepard spoke and tried to ease the apparent concerns the AI had, "There are many species on Earth that have a very high birth rate, but that is to compensate for a high death rate. Only a few reach adolescence." Then it dawned upon him; _was he trying to ease down his own concerns?_

_"I agree Shepard. The krogan naturally high birth rate was in the past a mechanism to compensate the harsh environments of Tuchanka. However despite Tuchanka's devastation this is no longer the issue. Many still won't reach adolescence, but even then the effective birth rate will be enormous. The issue is providing enough resources, mainly enough nourishment to be able to sustain it which will require a third party support. Thus it's expected that the death rate would become much lower __over time_."

_The damn AI nearly read my mind! _Shepard thought and tried to contain his displeasure with EDI. He shook his head slightly and asked with a sour tone, "Anymore cheerful thoughts on the subject?"

EDI continued unfazed, _"Yes there is Shepard. In the event that the krogan would support the war, we would need significant capabilities in transporting combat ready krogan to the battlefields of Palaven. This could prove difficult as they are demilitarized and have no warships."_

"Do you have suggestions on solving that matter?" Shepard asked with a much less snide tone this time. This was a valid concern after all.

_"They would need either turian or civilian starships to ferry them to battle. Or a combination of both. I would like to start making the necessary preparations for such an endeavor so ships are ready to deliver the krogan."_

Shepard nodded approvingly; it would certainly take a lot of ships to transport krogan to Palaven, "Well, the asari and the salarians are out for now. The Alliance might help the turians transport troops to Palaven, but that is up to Admiral Hackett. We could gain leverage to ensure more help for Earth when the time comes. So go ahead EDI." He suspected he would probably regret it but asked anyway, "Anything else that concerns you?"

_"Yes there is. We should also make preparations for food and other supplies to support the krogan. It's either that or they will have to rely on the nutrients in their humps."_

Shepard sighed; there were more things to solve then just the genophage. Not something he had devoted a lot of thoughts to. Shepard said dejected, "This keeps getting better and better."

_"The krogan might also require sedatives, since kogan sometimes fight with others of their kind in enclosed spaces such as warships."_

Shepard dreadfully imagined that they could lose a lot of a potential fighting force halfway to Palaven to injuries or even lost starships because of the krogan urges to fight.

Shepard said tiredly, "Make it happen. Any other last things you are worried about?"

_"Nothing that demands your attention. I have over 1.6 million questions on various subjects, but I pace myself."_

"Uh...yes, please do that." Shepard said weary.

_"Logging you out Shepard."_ EDI said and disappeared.

Joker glanced at Shepard and chuckled at his tired state, "Aren't you happy you came up here Commander?"

"Yes, very." Shepard said sarcastically and rose from the seat. He gave Joker a friendly nod, "See you around Joker."

"Commander." Joker said and turned his seat towards the interface in front of him.

* * *

Shepard quickly left the CIC and took a quick detour to the main battery were he found Garrus sitting at one of the tables near the door, reading a datapad. Shepard stopped at Garrus'.

"Hey Shepard." Garrus said dejected and turned to his human friend.

With a hint of concern Shepard asked, "Something wrong?"

"Casualty reports, we have more dead then injured." Garrus sighed.

"Casualties are that high?" Shepard asked troubled.

Garrus nodded, "Yeah. Whole front line units are being wiped out, platoons decimated by the dozens."

"That's not war, that's slaughter." Shepard said angrily.

"There's a reason they're called Reapers." Garrus added humorlessly and put away the datapad on the table and rose up. "Something I can do for you Shepard?"

"Actually it is. Have you heard about that turian carrier group in the system?"

"Yeah, I got an update earlier. What's on your mind?"

"Well, it came here pretty quickly for being part of the reinforcements, and the Primarch doesn't want to say what they're up to. I'm curious."

"They're not part of the requested force to support the release of the cure?" Garrus asked bewildered.

Shepard shook his head, "Apparently not technically. Victus said the reinforcements are still two days out."

Garrus shrugged, "I haven't' been briefed on anything. But one can only assume they have been here for a while."

"Yeah, I'm beginning to think so as well. A part of me isn't surprised you weren't briefed considering your close relationship to me."

"Huh, you might be right Shep. But..." Garrus trailed off. "It's curious indeed. What are you going to do?"

"Nothing that can be done really unless I want to start something stupid or begin barking orders to the Primarch and use my SPECTRE status. But the Primarch is certainly up to something that's for sure. Anyway, so how do you think we're doing Garrus? With our alliance?"

"Well, I guess only time will tell if Aria and her mercenaries will be an asset or a curse so to speak. And seeing Mordin alive and kicking was great, conjuring up more ways to cause trouble. We're on track, but I have to agree with Victus, that help for Palaven is needed sooner rather than later."

"Can we trust Victus?"

Garrus' mandibles twitched, "You mean will he betray an ally? I trust him Shep. The man is known to bend the rules, but that he would stab a potential ally in the back? No, he wouldn't. We have a lot riding on this, we turians get krogan support and you Shepard get the makings of an alliance against the Reapers. We all have everything to win and everything to lose on the genophage and the krogan."

"Yeah, we do."

"Plus if Victus lied and did something stupid we would just find another leader."

Shepard grinned, "Like you, _Primarch_ Vakarian. That general was saluting you back on Menae."

Garrus chuckled humorlessly, "John, don't go there."

"Fair enough Garrus." Shepard said but added slyly, "Primarch Vakarian, honored war hero."

"Spirits, I would be bad at that. I hate politicians."

"We're in this mess in part thanks to them." Shepard added. "Dragging their heels."

"I'm going to tinker with the cannon for a bit. Clear my head." Garrus said and walked over to the computer terminal in the middle of the room hooked up to the Thanix cannon.

"Okay, see you around Garrus." Shepard said and headed for the door before he abruptly stopped and turned to Garrus, "By the way, did you ever get in touch with Thane?"

Garrus turned around, "Yeah, I did. We've exchanged a few mails back and forth. He seems in good spirits despite it all. Maybe a little bored, but it was good to hear from him again."

Shepard nodded, "Glad to hear that, Garrus."

* * *

Dalatrass Linron's resentful shouting was heard through the computer's speakers, _"I won't forget this human! A bully has few friends when he needs them the most!"_

And with that, the recording from the summit soon ended, and Miranda leaned back into the chair in the office of their quarters. She pondered what she had just heard.

It was no denying that the salarian truly was egomaniacal and clearly more unreasonable then Urdnot Wrex had been. In contrast, the krogan was very calm considering the salarian's outbursts. Sure, Wrex had flared up, but he had still remained cool despite everything.

If any other krogan had been there, she wasn't so sure it would have gone as smoothly.

And to get the salarian to finally authorize them to head to the STG base to retrieve Eve and even contemplate the genophage cure, both the Primarch and John had to threaten Linron that they would pull their military support. Despite that John had been given extraordinary diplomatically powers, Miranda wondered what Admiral Hackett would have said about that.

Miranda began typing the report on the summit. It would likely take longer to compile then the after action report on Sur'Kesh, there was a lot to summarize indeed, but she also needed to convey John's stance on the matter as well. She had a lot to go on from the recording but she'd need him to proof read the report before sending it off. He always signed off on the past reports she had written, but this was politics on a high level and not a summary of a mission, so it was even more important now.

Down the short corridor behind her she heard the door open with a hiss and the sound of boots on the tiles before it stopped behind her.

"Hey John." Miranda said absentminded as she fixed her eyes on the monitor in front of her, typing away at the keyboard.

Shepard leaned on the corner of the wall next to the bathroom door and said, "Hey. Busy I see."

Miranda merely hummed as a response.

Shepard scratched his head, "How is it going? You want some help?"

Miranda spun the seat around to face Shepard, "No I'm fine."

Shepard shrugged, "As you wish."

"I enjoy writing reports. It gives me some time with my thoughts and I can get an overview what we did right and wrong. And I can come up with strategies and contingencies."

"Doing what you do best." Shepard smiled.

"So, how did your rounds of diplomacy go?"

"Well, Wrex and I bulled mostly. I tried to get a sense on his state of mind on the genophage. I gathered that most of what he and I talked about earlier is still there. He also said he received reports on more Reapers on Tuchanka."

Miranda frowned, "That's troubling. The Reapers, that is."

Shepard nodded, "Yes. I also talked to Victus about the carrier group. Apparently, the _Ferrata_ is not part of any reinforcements for the genophage-mission."

Miranda looked up in surprise, "Really? That's interesting."

"It sure is. He didn't want to talk about it and I didn't press him to much at the moment. And I doubt he would have talked even if I tried to pull SPECTRE on him. And it could break the fragile alliance in the making. I'll let it slide for the moment. He did say they would likely be provided if needed, but the requested forces are still two days out."

Miranda frowned as she listened to Shepard, "They're up to something."

"Yeah that's pretty evident. Even Garrus didn't know what they're doing here, but I doubt the turian hierarchy would tell him considering his close relationship to me."

Miranda shook her head. It was certainly an interesting development. So the carrier group wasn't part of the requested reinforcements? They had probably been in system for a while. Doing something. She quickly ruled out that they were working against the genophage, but they likely had some interest in the krogan home world. But what?

"How about having Liara look into it?" Miranda asked.

"How about we don't ruin whatever alliance there isn't?" Shepard pointed out cheekily.

Miranda smiled faintly and said with half a chuckle, "Hmm, yes. That's a good call." It of course made sense what he said, and although she wasn't with Cerberus anymore, she still slipped into that thought-pattern occasionally.

Miranda motioned towards the monitor on the table, "I accessed the recording of the summit. The Dalatrass wasn't very forthcoming or open to ideas. She was extremely hostile, and loathed Urdnot Wrex and the krogan."

"Indeed."

Miranda glanced at Shepard with a thoughtful expression, "I still have reservations, regardless how benevolent Eve and Wrex seems." Miranda sighed, "This is a very delicate situation."

"Yeah, it is." Shepard said somber. "The bright side is that Wrex is in charge, and not anyone else."

"I'm doing a report on the summit. You'll have to review it and add anything you deem necessary."

Shepard nodded, "Of course."

Miranda glanced at Shepard and smiled, "I was impressed with how you handled the summit. Keeping a straight and narrow line and on point. It could have very well gone the other way with Linron's hostile attitude. She could have derailed the entire summit."

Shepard nodded, "Well, thank you. And yes, it could have taken a turn for the worse. It was definitely a necessary course of action, we need to rally the other species so we need to kick everyone in the right direction otherwise we won't get anywhere."

"Let's just hope we get this alliance working sooner rather than later."

"Yeah."

Shepard reached into a pocket of his pants and pulled out the crystal Eve had given him earlier. He walked over to the office table and sat it down.

Miranda glanced at the tarnished crystal in front of her. She looked up at Shepard standing next to her, "A very interesting gift."

Shepard nodded and turned to Miranda, "Surprising as well." He grinned and continued, "Maybe she's after my attention."

Miranda shook her head and rolled her eyes, "That _'joke'_ is getting old by now."

Shepard smirked, "Don't worry Miri, you don't need to feel threatened by female krogan. You posses...assets which they don't."

Miranda snorted and drawled, "Careful, you are about to snuff your chances for tonight."

"That was a compliment," Shepard protested with grin.

"Well, I guess you don't know much about women then." Miranda retorted and crossed her arms under her breasts.

Shepard chuckled and leaned in and kissed her forehead, "I'll be down the gym for a while."

"Smart move, before you would say something really stupid." Miranda quipped.

* * *

Shepard had spent a few minutes changing into his training clothes and topped of an empty bottle with water before he took the elevator down to the cargo bay. Exiting the elevator he saw Vega and Cortez chatting at the workstation near the armorer's bench. With the exception of the two Lieutenants the rest of the cargo hold was void of personnel at the moment.

"Hey guys." Shepard said as he closed the distance to them.

"Hey Loco."

"Commander."

"Nice to see you guys taking some down time." Shepard observed.

"What are you doing down here?" Cortez asked.

"Just here to lift some weights." Shepard answered and tilted his head at the alcove of crates were the gym was located.

"Yeah, you gonna need some muscles next time we dance, Loco." Vega asserted jokingly.

"I thought I won that one?" Shepard countered presumptuous.

"Please, I let you win that one old man." Vega responded tongue-in-cheek.

One of Shepard's eyebrows rose and he chuckled, "Keep dreaming Vega. There's what? Four years between us?"

"Yeah, but you're going to lose it soon, Loco."

"Oh, I can pummel your ass with a baseball bat, Lieutenant." Shepard warned cheekily.

"Hey, that's not very sports-man-like." Vega protested.

Shepard smirked, "Walk softly and carry a big stick James."

The trio chuckled.

Shepard turned to Cortez, "You did well on Sur'Kesh, Steve, with all that enemy fire."

"Thanks Commander."

"For your shuttle being so stealthy and all, Esteban, you sure do get shot at a lot." Vega taunted.

Cortez shrugged, "Well the stealth systems only internalize heat and high band emissions. So while few sensors can pick us up, our cover is blown as soon as someone looks up."

"Time for an upgrade then."

Cortez waved him off and explained casually, unfazed by Vega's taunts, "Most scanners and tracking systems don't operate in mid-range frequencies. Sure, maybe I've been shot at, but I haven't been shot down yet."

"And _yet_ being the empirical word," Vega chuckled, "and lucky for us you are almost as good a pilot as you think you are."

"Well, yeah, it's that too." Cortez asserted with his confident fighter pilot demeanor.

"Have you painted kill markings on the shuttle?" Shepard asked knowing very well that fighter pilots kept a tally on their kills.

"I'm planning to Commander; I did get a gunship and a shuttle."

"Not too bad for a day's work."

"Yeah, it felt good kicking some Cerberus ass."

"Well, keep up the good work. I'm going to hit the weights."

Cortez nodded, "I got some things to do up on crew deck. See you two around."

The three said their goodbyes and Cortez quickly left the cargo bay with the elevator.

Shepard was about to head for the 'gym' when Vega spoke up, "You mind if I bother you for a minute Loco?"

Shepard chuckled and gestured for Vega to follow him, "Nah, that's fine."

Vega followed behind Shepard as he walked over to the ship's designated gym and put down the bottle he had with him and grabbed the end of a workout bench and dragged it out into the open a bit. Vega stopped nearby and leaned on a set of stacked crates at the alcove he had claimed as his.

"So what's on your mind, James?" Shepard asked as he headed back and fetched a pair of dumbbell free weights off the floor and returned to the bench.

"Thought I ask you some questions for a change."

"Fine by me." Shepard said and glanced at Vega.

"One thing that I've been trying to figure out for quite some time is; how do you know what the right decision is?"

Shepard lied down on the bench face up with his weights in his hands, looking up the ceiling and took a deep breath before he began his chest fly-training, working the chest muscles.

"Well," Shepard said whilst moving his spread out arms horizontally forward and bringing them together above the chest in a fluid motion, "You don't really. You try and make a uniformed call with the intelligence at hand."

"Huh, that...'simple'?" Vega countered thoughtfully.

"No, not really how I would call it. Sometimes you have good intel and sometimes you don't. Or even worse, you are on the clock and need to make a snap decision that could have some dire consequences for a lot of people."

Vega said in a low voice, "Yeah...I know that one."

Shepard glanced at Vega in front of him in between his arm motions, noticing the Lieutenant's disheartening facial expression. Shepard lowered his arms and dropped the weights on the floor and sat up.

"Something you want to talk about James?" Shepard asked and reached for the water bottle on the floor next to him.

Vega straightened himself from the crates, "Nah, not really sir."

Shepard removed the cap and gulped down some water and said afterwards. "I respect that. But I sensed something was troubling you before we left for Menae, I hope it won't affect you on missions."

Vega looked up and said assuringly, "No, it won't Loco."

"Fair enough." Shepard said and sat down his bottle. He made a mental note for the future regarding Vega's past demons but for now decided to try and lighten the mood a bit and steered the conversation to something else, "So, where did you attend boot camp?"

"Camp Pendleton, back in -76. You?"

Shepard half-expected Vega to know about his background but answered nonetheless, "Camp Lejeune in -72. Enlisted at the Alliance recruiting office in Vancouver the day I turned 18."

Vega smiled, "Yeah me to, but in San Diego. Much simpler days back then."

"Your uncle encouraged you right? Wasn't he ex-military?"

"He did, and he was. But not Alliance. Spent the -40s and -50s in the Marine Corps. Did three tours in Nigeria with 1st Recon and saw action in Venezuela as well. Why did you join up?"

"Well, at first I just wanted out of a destructive life style. I just wanted away from Earth." Shepard explained before he chuckled heartfelt, "But after having my ass kicked in boot camp it dawned upon me that military life was what I wanted, plus I had a knack for leadership so they encouraged me to head to the Academy. And I did, it was hard work, but when I graduated it was all worth it."

Vega grinned, "Yeah, they push you hard, but they don't want any sorry-ass JROTC. They want the elite."

"Damn, when you were at Pendleton I was on Elysium." Shepard pondered mindfully. "Ten years now. Time flies by."

"Just means you are old." Vega provoked gleefully.

"It means I have experience." Shepard countered with a grin.

"First unit you served in?"

Shepard proudly responded, "22nd Alliance Expeditionary Force, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines."

"1st Alliance Expeditionary Force, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines." Vega said equally as proud without missing a beat.

"The first unit is always special."

Vega nodded silently and then asked, "Do you mind if I ask why you applied to Special Forces?"

"I had always been near SF-types on base or on assignments. They seemed like a tight-knit group, carried themselves proudly and let's not forget better trained then regular grunts. After Elysium I could get any assignment I wanted. It seemed like the obvious career move."

"How was Elysium?"

"Tough. The marine contingent in Illyria was overrun and scattered, so me and a few other guys who were there on some R&R rallied anyone that could carry a gun; police, ex militaries and any marines we found. We banded together and ran some guerilla style warfare until reinforcements arrived. The portrayal of me singlehandedly stopping 10 kay of batarians is...well bullshit. I wasn't alone nor did we engage all those batarians, but we made life difficult for them."

"I remember we were glued to the TV's when they broke the news." Vega spat angrily, "Fucking batarians."

"Well, the Alliance gave them hell on Torfan two years later."

"They did. So, how did you get assigned to the SR1?"

Shepard chuckled, "Well, I was a fresh Lieutenant Commander and the CO got a call from then-ambassador Udina. They wanted me to join Anderson on the SR1 as his XO and then I was on Arcturus a few days later and a week in we were enroute to Eden Prime."

Vega grinned, "Well, I bet being the war hero Shepard must have its moments. The ladies must be after you 24/7."

Shepard chuckled, "Not as often as you think."

"Seriously?"

"After Elysium, all the girls just wanted to be able to brag around their friends that they had been with Lieutenant Shepard."

"Don't tell me you didn't take advantage of the situation?!" Vega exclaimed taken aback.

Shepard shrugged, "It happened."

"You know," Vega began as he leaned back and smiled fondly, "There was this _beautiful_ asari on Fehl Prime last year. I tried talking to her, but she didn't seem all that interested at first."

"She changed her tune?"

"Treeya was an anthropologist, and wasn't impressed with Alliance grunts."

"So what happened?"

"Well...there was a change in attitude. But nothing profound really happened." Vega scratched the back of his head afflictive and then shrugged, "I had to clear my head after the Collector attack so I went to Omega for a change in scenery, and she stayed on Fehl Prime to help in rebuilding."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Shepard glanced at Vega, it was apparent that the incident with the Collectors on Fehl Prime had a profound impact on the younger marine. And it was also apparent Vega was reluctant to go into further detail other then what he had done during previous conversations.

Vega smirked after a few moments of silence between the two, "You must be able to get anyone you want." Then Vega made a point by looking up the ceiling, "As evident by Miranda Lawson. _Esta buena_."

"I did not hear _that_ James." Shepard said slightly displeased. It seemed that Vega was still a little infatuated with Miranda even after their first encounter weeks ago.

Vega turned his eyes to Shepard again and said deadpanned, "What? I only complemented her looks."

Shepard shook his head and snorted, "I'm sure you did."

"She can't have been able to resist the war hero Commander John Shepard, right?" Vega asked with a smirk, unfazed by Shepard and keen to continue the subject matter.

Shepard suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. "Look, I'll let you in on a little secret."

Vega's smirked widened in anticipation, "Yeah?"

Shepard smiled, remembering the cold Cerberus operative, "Miranda's first impression of me was that I had a _'bloody arrogant hero vibe'_. She isn't easily impressed."

"Oh?" Vega said surprised.

"And James, I understand that with everything that's going on, you miss some things in life. But believe me; you don't want to date someone like Miranda."

Vega glanced at Shepard dumbfounded, "What? I mean, I'm not an expert, but... she's not that good to... you mean there's trouble in paradise?"

Shepard shook his head, "No. And don't take this the wrong way, but you don't want to be dating up, and particularly not anyone like her."

Vega was getting increasingly confused, "And what do you mean exactly?"

"It's a recipe for humiliation. She is not exactly tolerant with people who don't measure up to her; she would destroy your self-esteem."

"Oh." Vega responded when Shepard's words had sunk in. Then he looked at Shepard and frowned a bit, "Hey, so you say I'm what, to stupid for smart women?"

Shepard shook his head, "No, not at all. But certain personality types maybe aren't the best choice. And to be quite frank, Miranda probably wouldn't even consider you for anything more than a one-night stand. Even with alcohol and poor judgment involved."

Vega grinned and quipped, "I'd like that."

Shepard sighed displeased, "Do you want to annoy me? You like the idea of her, but it would not be a relationship you would have fond memories of. Find someone who you match, with whom you will have a relationship that actually works..." Shepard shrugged and grinned, "And if not there's always Fornax and Joker's collection... he can set up everything so you can listen to it on your earpiece."

"Hey, dude, come on!" Vega protested.

Shepard chuckled, "Well, that's all the relationship advice I'll be giving you today."

Vega smirked, "Does she have a sister?"

Shepard sighed again, "Yeah, but if you would even try anything there, Miranda would kill you. And not even I would be able to stop her, so drop all those thoughts for your own survival."

Vega shook his head and chuckled, "Man, protective sister huh?"

_You have no idea_, Shepard thought.

Vega continued, "Don't worry Loco, this won't be a problem at all. Scout's honor."

"Let's hope so, for your sake."

Vega nodded and straightened himself from the crates, "Well, I'll leave you with your weights. See you around Loco."

Shepard fetched the two weights from the floor and gave Vega a nod as the Lieutenant walked away, "You too Vega."

* * *

_**Quotes from: The Big Bang Theory (episode: The Panty Pinata Polarization), The West Wing (S01E03), and Black Hawk Down.**_

_**A small reference to Avatar (2009).**_

_**Maybe not the most exciting chapter, but there are some ideas here I wanted out through the door, and don't worry; Mordin will have face time in coming chapters. I think it's a daunting task writing his speech mannerisms, trying to make it feel like the character. Or maybe that's just me.**_

_**Next chapter will contain a few more explosions.**_

_**Anyway, see you all in 2013!**_

_**Credit goes to xXserialkillerXx for parts of Vega's dialogue on Miranda.**_

_**A shout-out to Mastermind4892 for pointing out Mass Effect: Paragon Lost on YouTube. I'll use the film to expand James Vega a bit. I'll ignore the errors in canon. **_

_**Edit (2012-12-29): Thanks to Ble for correction on Vega's Spanish comment on Miranda. I also made additional changes, including changing chapter title. New additions added to Wrex and Victus, credit to **__**xXserialkillerXx **_for assistance.  



	27. A Call to Arms

On day two of Normandy's presence in the Aralakh-system, the day-crew was preparing for war games with the turian carrier group. Shepard had decided the evening before that in order to keep the crew occupied in between hours of boredom, a military exercise with the turians might very well keep people's skills sharp. Shepard had presented the idea to Victus as he was sort of considered a liaison officer between the two species present in the system. Victus had no objections and quickly contacted the commanding officer of the _Ferrata_ carrier group who agreed to the suggestion.

Shepard and the turian commanding officer began planning. It was decided that the turians would try and locate the Normandy and launch a simulated attack on the human ship. As Mordin was busy with crafting a cure with Eve, Joker was for the moment ordered not to carry out any hard maneuvering if he spotted the attacking force as that would require the crew and anyone else onboard to be strapped into harnesses. The war games was planned to perfect the working relationship between the crew and EDI in combat scenarios and to counter any turian attempts to find and attack the Normandy.

Ensign Copeland was the officer-in-charge for the CIC contingent during the day. After his regular brief with his counterpart for the night-shift, which took only a few minutes as nothing had happened during the night, Copeland had begun preparing his CIC operators for the war game. CIC operators Jones and Dieter sat at their stations on the left of the Galaxy Map, both of them were delighted to do something different this day then to just look at empty LADAR screens. They fully understood the complexity and the importance of the mission, but boredom had for the moment taken the upper hand on them.

Dieter punched a few buttons on his interface and arranged a series of important systems so he could quickly switch between them during the heat of 'combat'. He turned to his left where Jones sat and said, "I wonder what their plan will be."

"Plan?" Jones asked absentmindedly as he was busy with his own interface.

Dieter nodded and said deadpanned, "Yeah, turians don't take a dump, son, without a plan."

Jones chuckled and asked, "You actually think they're gonna find us?"

Dieter shook his head, "Nah, but who knows what kind of systems and knowledge the turians have? We did build the SR1 together. Anything can happen, but we're gonna give them a run for their money."

"That we will."

Joker's jovial voice was heard over the intercom, _"Ladies and Gentlemen, my name is Jeff "Joker" Moreau, I'll be your pilot this morning. Alliance regulations designate this a "non-smoking" starship. For those of you who have the "Tuchanka Frequent Flyer" program, you'll be earning a hundred free credits this morning and as always, the air sickness bags are located in the seat-back."_

The assembled CIC-crew chuckled of mild amusement at Joker's antics.

Joker continued, _"The exercise with the turians will commence in 15 minutes, so if Commander Shepard would please come up to the CIC so we can let the games begin, instead of frolicking with 'you-know-who'."_

Instead of a mild chuckle, the crew burst out in laughter and cheered in response, although no one was in awe of their fearless, or perhaps stupid pilot, considering the could-be repercussions for such a comment.

"Oh, he's in so much trouble for that one." Jones snickered.

"Yeah." Dieter said with half a chuckle. "I think he is annoyed he can't pull any Crazy Ivan's today."

"I would-" Jones began as he had his eyes glued on the screen and then exclaimed surprisingly, "Unknown contact!"

Dieter noticed a blip on the screen as well which raised his heart rate a few notches, "I concur. Unknown contact."

And as quick as the contact on their LADAR screen had showed up it was now gone.

"It came out of FTL near the relay." Dieter informed.

"Yeah, but it's gone. I'll run a playback and try and get an ID on 'em." Jones said and punched a few buttons. "EDI, I could need some help here."

_"Of course Private Jones." _EDI responded.

Jones quickly retrieved a LADAR recording of the incident and started the computer's advanced IFF algorithm and hoped EDI and the computers got identify the contact.

A few moments later EDI said, _"I'm sorry, I can't get a positive identification, but the IFF gives a 57% probability of human design. Starship class is likely a cruiser."_

"It can't be one of our own, they would have hailed us." Dieter pondered.

"I agree." Jones said and tapped his ear piece, "Sir, we have a bogey in the star system."

_"I'm on my way Jones."_ Copeland responded.

A few moments later the Ensign appeared from behind the Galaxy Map and walked up to the two seated operators.

"What's going on Private? We're not about to start the exercise just yet."

"I know sir. But we tracked an unknown contact emerging from the relay and then it disappeared, the computers indicate it might be of human design." Jones said.

Dieter tapped a few buttons and played the replay of the LADAR-track on his monitor, Copeland knelt down behind Dieter to get a better view.

"You appear to be right." Copeland said and glanced at the two operators. "Good work you two. Keep an eye on the LADAR."

"Yes sir." The two privates responded in unison.

Copeland stood up and said, "EDI, can you send up the Commander. Tell him we have a _real_ bogey in the system."

* * *

Shortly after being notified by EDI, Shepard exited the elevator in the CIC and took a left past the Galaxy Map and walked to Copeland who had remained near the two CIC operators. Shepard had been in his quarters getting dressed after showering, and had of course heard Joker's tongue-in-cheek remarks that was transmitted everywhere before EDI had contacted him regarding the bogey that had entered the system.

Despite what Joker thought Shepard was occupied with, Miranda was actually down in the gym at the time. Shepard knew she had let her hair down lately, but was still curious what her reaction would be to Joker's 'frolicking'-comment.

Shepard stopped near Copeland, "So, what's happening Ensign? Not the turians?"

"No, sir. We tracked an unknown contact that entered the system a few minutes ago before it jumped to FTL. Probable human design, but not Alliance."

Shepard's mind quickly came to one probable conclusion; _Cerberus_. But where was it now? And if Cerberus had been able to build this stealth ship, they would probably have ships of their own with similar capabilities, and finding it would be problematic at best.

"There he is!" Exclaimed Dieter startled and tapped his monitor. "Dropped out near Tuchanka. EDI, run the IFF."

_"I'm already on it."_ the AI responded.

Jones ran a running commentary for the two officers standing behind him, "He's slowing down to descent speed, entering Tuchanka's atmosphere now."

_"Shepard,"_ EDI said over the intercom, _"it's a cruiser, 82% probability being Cerberus."_

Well, at least that's a confirmation, Shepard thought. _They're most likely here to try and stop the release of the cure. _

Shepard called out, "EDI, send a report to the turians and see if they got anything more we don't. For now, I think we should call of the war games. And send a report to Admiral Hackett as well."

_"Yes Shepard."_ EDI acknowledged.

* * *

The effort to find the Cerberus cruiser was in full swing; the Normandy had its vast array of sensors running to find it. Shepard had made a stop in the War Room and enlisted Victus in aiding them who was in the QEC in contact with the commander on the _Ferrata._ The carrier group was also conducting planetary sweeps in an effort to find it. Shepard had also called on the assistance of the krogan, and Wrex was now present in the War Room at one of the terminals and was in contact with his people on the planet, but amongst the spots of radiation on Tuchanka and other interference, the joint-species search had not yielded any results yet.

Shepard hovered near the War Room table and glanced at a computer where he received all the feeds from every unit hunting the cruiser. The expression _'finding a needle in a haystack'_ couldn't be more fitting as finding a cruiser on a planet wasn't the simplest of tasks.

In the corner of his eye he noticed a feminine figure entering the War Room and walked down the stairs. Shepard turned and noted Miranda looking as sharp as ever in yet another business-like outfit, he had called for her presence five minutes earlier. Her dark hair was damp from a recent shower so he understood why her presence had taken some time.

"Hey." He said with a friendly smile as she stopped near him.

"Hi. Sorry, I was in the shower when EDI called." Miranda said returning a smile of her own.

Shepard shrugged, "That's fine."

"Cerberus cruiser? EDI filled me in on some details while I was getting dressed."

"Yeah, the thing disappeared and we have us and the turians looking for it." Shepard tilted his head towards Wrex on the other side of the room, ""Wrex has contacted by his chief of intelligence and he has his recon teams out searching for it, but so far no luck at all. They descended into atmosphere somewhere near the planets equator in a dead zone with no sensor coverage and that is when we lost it. There's nothing there. They just wanted to avoid detection."

"Cerberus did have several pretty high-tech masking technologies in development last year; it is possible they might use something like that to cover their presence." Miranda noted.

"They outran a turian carrier just like that, which speaks for itself. And now they're interfering with our search. I guess your knowledge on Cerberus protocols are outdated by now?"

"Likely, but I can take a look." Miranda glanced at the QEC room where she saw Victus in talks with another turian through the QEC-holo. She leaned closer to Shepard and whispered, "Do you think the turians know something considering their prior presence here?"

Shepard shrugged and whispered back, "Why would they? Unless it's connected to the presence of the _Ferrata._"

Miranda nodded and stepped back a bit and spoke in a normal voice, "We know they are aware of are efforts to find the cure. We can't say the same about what the turians are know, the latest intelligence report suggests that the attacking Cerberus forces on Sur'Kesh escaped, perhaps it's the same cruiser. Back to finish what they started."

Shepard turned to her and nudged her shoulder playfully and grinned, "What, you are dealing in fun facts now?"

Miranda leveled him a glare.

Shepard continued unfazed with a grin, "What? I'm just teasing," but agreed with her reasoning, "but you could be right. Regardless, we need to take care of it."

From the entrance they heard Traynor's voice as she rushed in, "Commander!"

Shepard looked up, "Yes, Specialist?"

"I think I found them." Traynor said as she quickly walked down the steps and stopped at Shepard and Miranda.

"You have?" Miranda asked as she also turned to Traynor.

"Or rather their communications. For a short while at least. Apparently they are sending teams to an abandoned military facility in the wastelands." Traynor appeared disappointed in herself, "But I don't know where."

"It's better then what we had a minute ago. How did you find it?" Shepard said.

Traynor explained proudly, "Well, not long ago I had us license a smart processing algorithm from Arieke Tech - I put in a requisition with Ms. Lawson - it can clean up long range data and with EDI's help it can do a lot more. With all our planetary scans running I found a garbled communications channel which I cleaned up."

"So we can listen in?"

"Well, no sir." Traynor said a little crestfallen. "It appears they change algorithm regularly and use coded relays so it takes some time to find and tap into their communications channel. If I find a new stream it's likely to go dark rather quickly."

Shepard smiled and praised her, "Good work Traynor. See if you can't get the turians in on it too, if we run multiple searches with them maybe we can find Cerberus."

"Of course sir. I'll get on it." Traynor said and beamed with pride to have been able to help out, and rushed out of the War Room.

"We're getting somewhere." Miranda said as she turned her attention to Shepard.

"Yeah." Shepard said and turned to the direction of Wrex and spoke a little louder, "Wrex, I have a question."

"Coming." Wrex said and stepped away from his workstation and walked down to Shepard.

"It's a long shot," Shepard said when the krogan stopped on the opposite side of the table, "but you don't happen to know any military installations on Tuchanka that could be of interest to Cerberus?"

"Sorry Shepard, it's a big planet, and without specifics..."

"Yeah, I thought so. Have you heard anything from the ground?"

Wrex shook his head dejected, "No."

Victus stepped out of the QEC-room and walked down the steps to Shepard, "Commander. Our forces are stepping up the search, the _Ferrata_ have launched a UCAV to join the search."

Shepard nodded, "Good. Apparently Specialist Traynor stumbled upon a scrambled communication channel and she can listen in on it if she finds it again, but they change encryption often so it's not the easiest task. She'll interface with the _Ferrata_."

Victus nodded, "Sounds good Commander. Whatever that cruiser is up to it can't be good."

"Yeah, it seems Cerberus is interested in some kind of old military installation somewhere. But that's about it. We have no more details now."

"It's something at least." Victus mused. "I'll be in regular contact with the _Ferrata_."

"You do that." Shepard said.

Victus nodded and walked over to one of the computers on the circular table.

Miranda turned to Shepard, "I'll go and help Specialist Traynor, and maybe we can find something."

"Okay." Shepard said and Miranda turned away and left the War Room.

* * *

In the CIC, Private Dieter had excused himself to head to the bathroom on the Crew Deck and in the meantime Ensign Copeland had taken up position at Dieter's CIC station next to Jones, teaching Private Jones in the fine arts of searching after encrypted communications on the radio waves. With wireless headphones on, Copeland glanced at Jones who was engrossed in all the information being displayed on his monitor. The Private was also listening in on the current frequency on his own headphones.

"You don't hear it?" Copeland asked.

Jones tried to concentrate as much as possible listening on the frequency and said quietly, "No."

"Jones, at the Academy we used to do this in our sleep. You hear it now?"

Jones looked up at Copeland, and looked a little more excited this time. He heard something, "Wait a minute..."

"Uh oh." Copeland said with a grin.

"I should go to SAPS?" Jones asked hesitantly as he looked at Copeland for some direction.

"Yes!" Copeland exclaimed approvingly. "Signal Algorithmic Processing System. If I spent a week with you doing this you could be teaching it to the rest of the crew in no time. Maybe even teach at the Academy."

Jones smiled happily at his progress and praise from the Ensign as he activated the processing system with a press of a button.

Copeland turned to face the monitor in front of him and punched in a few buttons on 'his' station and waited for the results. "So, Private Jones, you have found...something krogan."

Jones looked up surprised, "What?"

"Krogan. Krogan encrypted communication." Copeland clarified. "Or as encrypted as they can be. Not exactly what we were looking for huh? Reset and do it again Jones."

"God damn..." Jones mumbled under his breath and reset the system with a few button presses.

"There are a lot of things that factor in; such as atmospheric conditions and sunspots. And Cerberus is clearly making a concentrated effort to block their communication and location from our attempts at interception." Copeland said.

"Yes sir." Jones said crestfallen and started the spectrum analyzer that measured input signals versus frequency within the frequency range of the powerful instrument.

But suddenly after a few moments the persistence spectrum diagram produced several spikes on the monitor.

"Oh, we have something." Copeland said and listened intently on his headphones. "EDI, clean it up."

Moments later the signal was clearer.

"I need the Commander here!" Copeland exclaimed animated.

_"Ms. Lawson is at Traynor's station."_ EDI informed. _"The Commander is in the War Room."_

Copeland rose up from the seat and shouted towards the direction of the Galaxy Map, "Ms Lawson. We have found something!"

He plopped back into the seat again, and looked at the monitor and listening to the Cerberus communication they had tapped into.

A few moments passed by and Miranda showed up. "What's going on Ensign?"

"Jones, hand the XO your headphones." Copeland ordered.

Private Jones removed his headphones and handed them to Miranda put them on. A few seconds later Miranda smirked.

"I hope you are recording this EDI." Miranda said.

_"I am, Ms. Lawson."_

"Good work people." Miranda praised. She removed the headphones and handed them back to Jones, "I'll inform the Commander."

* * *

Miranda arrived in the War Room and explained that the CIC operators had managed to find a communications stream. Although by the time she had arrived in the War Room, the stream was apparently gone again, but enough information had been intercepted so they had something to act on.

"Coordinates?" Shepard asked surprised after Miranda had briefed him.

"Yes. To the military installation they're keen on securing. It seems several shuttles are inbound as we speak."

Shepard turned to the War Room table and called out for the AI, "EDI, punch them in."

The advanced holographic display loaded a rotating image of Tuchanka and soon a topographic map over a remote area in the wastelands had been processed. Victus and Wrex stood on each side of the table and glanced at the same image.

It showed a fairly large military installation with two buildings separated by a courtyard. On each opposite side there were two large interplanetary cannon barrels tilted upwards. The installation was connected by a large tube leading out into the wastelands, partly collapsed at several sections. It was some kind of cargo transfer tunnel which connected to a loading dock that led to the two separate buildings.

Shepard looked up at Wrex, "What is this place, Wrex?"

"A very old installation. A ground-to-space cannon, dates back to the Krogan Rebellions. Outside Urdnot-borders, it looks like the base resides on Clan Jorgal's territory."

"And the gun is still functioning?" Victus asked bewildered.

Wrex shrugged and looked at Victus on the opposite side of the table, "We build things to last."

"Regardless," Shepard said, "Cerberus is interested in the cannon so only that speaks trouble. If they get it operational they could engage our ships."

"Spirits, that could stop the entire genophage mission." Victus said dreary.

"Yes," Shepard said. "EDI, tell the team to suit up and report to the cargo bay and download the layout to their omni-tools."

_"Of course Shepard."_ EDI responded.

"Primarch, if the marine detachment with your strike group could provide a QRF just in case, it would be greatly appreciated." Shepard said.

Victus nodded, "Of course Commander, I'll see to it personally."

"I appreciate it sir." Shepard then turned to Wrex, "You have to stay onboard Wrex, you're an envoy now and also important to the cure as Mordin say."

"I know," Wrex mumbled glum under his breath. "Kill some for me."

Shepard nodded and turned to Miranda, "I'll need to contact Admiral Hackett, see to that the team is ready for combat."

"Alright, I'll head up and get my armor." Miranda said and left the War Room.

* * *

Shepard walked into the QEC room and stopped at the communicator and called out for EDI, "Connect me to Admiral Hackett."

_"Right away, Shepard."_

The advanced communications systems began working and after a few moments the Normandy was connected and soon Hackett answered the call.

_"Commander, what can I do for you?"_ Hackett asked as his image was processed.

"Sir, did you get our report on recent Cerberus activities?"

_"Yes, a cruiser was spotted in your AO. Troubling news."_

"It is Admiral. After some due diligence we have found some Cerberus forces heading for an abandoned interplanetary cannon-base in the wastelands. But we have no reading on the cruiser though."

The Admiral pondered the news, _"Cerberus doesn't act without a plan Commander. If they assume control over the cannon, it could have dire consequences for your mission."_

Shepard nodded, "Exactly sir. I'm readying a mission to go down and secure the base. It'll certainly give us a tactical advantage having the cannon at our disposal."

_"Agreed. The Seventh Fleet should be in Aralakh-system later tonight your time. I'll brief Admiral Santini on the situation and I'll have her send down a detachment of marines after you've secured the base, Commander."_

"Yes sir." Shepard turned slightly and noted Victus busy with a computer at the central table. Shepard turned back to the communicator and said, "Sir. Do you have you any info on the turian carrier group?"

Shepard had sent a message the night before to Hackett informing of the surprise guests that were already present when the Normandy arrived in theatre.

Hackett shook his head, _"No. I tried to but got stonewalled by the turians. If they aren't working against us I suggest we leave it. But it won't hurt if you keep your ears open."_

"Of course sir, I was thinking the same. I'll report in after the mission."

_"Understood. I'll be waiting on your call Commander."_

* * *

After collecting his armor, Shepard finally arrived in the Cargo Bay and found his team in full armor and helmets and was in the process of collecting their weapons. Shepard proceeded to do the same and headed for his weapons locker and retrieved his standard loadout but complemented it with a M29 Incisor rifle.

And a missile launcher. Just to be safe.

With everything safely secured to his armor he turned to the squad of five who was patiently waiting near the workstations, all armed to the teeth and with Vega and Zaeed brandishing missile launchers as well. Cortez was standing in the background as well.

"Okay, has everyone been brought up to speed and studied the layout that?" Shepard asked when he stopped in front of them.

The assembled team acknowledged.

Shepard nodded and activated his own omni-tool and brought up the topographical layout and studied it, "Good. Primary infiltration point will be through the partially collapsed tunnel. As long as it isn't too dangerous or inefficient. If it is, we'll trek through the debris-field leading up to the base."

"Oh Goddess." Liara murmured, "Another tunnel." She still remembered their infiltration of Omega vividly.

Garrus gave her a mock-sympathetic pat on her shoulder and said dryly, "You'll be fine."

Liara shook her head at her friend's 'sympathetic' words.

Shepard grinned and continued, "A quick update; EDI informed me on the way down that the turians just relayed a message that they're tracking two Cerberus shuttles via their UCAV and they're heading for the installation as we speak."

"A piece of cake." Vega boosted with a grin.

"Let's not get carried away," Shepard chided before he turned to their pilot. "Cortez, I want you to find a nice spot near the tunnel. There are several collapsed sections of it were we can gain access."

"Yes sir." Cortez said.

Shepard focused on the team, "I have also asked the turians to have a QRF on standby if we would need the extra support."

"Ah, come on Shepard," Zaeed protested unimpressed from the back of the assembled team, leaning on a workstation. "We 'ave seen a lot worse then dis."

"Sure we have, but you never know. Any questions?"

"I 'aven't seen combat since Omega, let's not drag our feet in the sand any longer." Zaeed said.

The others shook their heads; they had no questions for Shepard.

"Alright, let's go then."

* * *

The Kodiak shuttle descended on the planet through the light clouds. It was in the middle of the day in that part of Tuchanka and the sun was high on the skies, its warm sunrays hit the surface and created a warm haze. They approached the deserted wastelands that were riddled with debris and what seemed like a destroyed city with crumbled buildings in the distance. Cortez put down the shuttle on the ground in a small gorge to keep it hidden from any potential observant Cerberus trooper, the thrusters on the shuttle washed up sand in all directions.

The shuttle door opened and the group promptly disembarked and fanned out to set up a defensive posture close to the Kodiak with their weapons at the ready. The military installation was visible about half a kilometer away.

"Alright, we're in the clear Cortez. Bug out and stay in orbit nearby." Shepard ordered into his mouthpiece.

"You got it Commander. Good luck." The shuttle door closed and the Kodiak lifted off the ground and headed away from the landing zone. Soon all that was heard was the rush of air of the desert wind.

"Welcome to the suck." Vega commented dryly. As this was his first time setting foot on Tuchanka, he wasn't very impressed by the visuals.

"Alright people, only use the radios. No voice modules." Shepard ordered as he studied the terrain in front of him through his weapon's scope. The half buried cargo transfer tunnel was about 50 meters in front of him and he could see a part of its wall collapsed. They would use that to gain access to the tunnel itself.

Shepard rose up and lowered his rifle, "Let's move out. Keep your head on a swivel. There are more dangerous things on Tuchanka then Cerberus." Shepard took point while the others followed him.

The Tuchanka desert was a hot and dry, like a blast furnace. And wearing heavy combat armors didn't make things better. In the middle of the group, Vega panted as he vaulted over a slab of concrete which probably had been part of a building at one time.

"Is that you breathing so hard, Vega?" Garrus asked dryly behind Vega.

Vega murmured, "Damn it's hot, but adrenaline's better than oxygen any day."

In front of him Zaeed agreed, "Yeah. I'm sweatin' like a 'ooker in church."

Shepard stopped and turned to glance at Zaeed who was closing the distance to him and Shepard asked incredulous, "You brought a hooker to church?"

Zaaed shrugged and said deadpanned as he stopped near Shepard, "Why not?"

With half a chuckle Shepard said, "Right."

Vega walked up to them and looked at Zaeed, "I'm more amazed that you actually walked into a church old man."

Miranda stopped at the three men and said unamused, "Could we get on with the mission?"

* * *

Eight kilometers above them a turian _Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle_ of a flying-wing design were orbiting, and through its sensitive sensors it was searching the immediate area. The machine was controlled by two operators that were seated next to each other in a fairly large and crowded command room adjacent to the CIC onboard the _Ferrata_, one operator piloted the aircraft while the other was in control of sensors and communications.

With his hand on the camera-interface, the sensor-operator moved the camera around the cannon-base and spotted at least a dozen infrared dots across the compound. The sensor-operator punched in a few other buttons on his interface and connected to the ground team's radio channel.

* * *

In his earpiece, Shepard heard a distinct turian voice, _"Spectre 0-1, this is Vulture 3-2. We're in sector and scanning with thermals. I have visuals on fifteen heat signatures. More could be present, but buildings obstruct any visual confirmation."_

"Copy that Vulture. We're pushing ahead." Shepard answered and pressed a button on his omni-tool and deactivated the comm link.

The group arrived at the tunnel and Shepard knelt down next to the collapsed wall and noticed that there was only a short drop to the floor. He dropped down and walked a few meters into the tunnel and surveyed the inside; there was a few fallen sections that littered the length of the tunnel and the sun lit through cracked parts of the tunnel and it seemed far less dark and treacherous. He brought up his rifle and gazed through the scope. In the far end of the tunnel he could almost discern the loading dock leading further into the base.

Above Shepard, Garrus knelt down on the edge of the tunnel and looked at him, "So are we taking this route?"

Shepard lowered his rifle and turned to his friend, "Yeah. It's either going through here or going through the rocks and debris of the surface, whichever way take we can still be spotted. It could prove better down here. Or worse."

Garrus nodded, "With Tuchanka you take what you can get." The turian rose up and turned to the others behind him and waved for them follow, "We're going down here."

Soon enough the squad dropped down and fanned out across the large tunnel and moved onwards. Eventually the group stopped at several large slabs of concrete and rocks close to the loading dock and knelt down for cover. Shepard and Garrus rose up with their weapons and peered around and surveyed the loading dock in front of them through their scopes, but they could not see any Cerberus troops. Deciding on a plan of attack, Shepard noted the large inclined loading ramp leading up from the tunnel to the loading dock; it seemed to be the only way into the base.

"Right then. Zaeed and Liara on me." Shepard said. "We'll take the ramp up and see what we can see. Miranda you and the rest can provide cover for us."

"Right." Miranda said as she peered out of cover with her assault rifle aimed at the loading dock. Vega joined up next to her with his own weapon ready.

Shepard vaulted over a large slab of concrete that had fallen from the roof of the tunnel and proceeded onwards with his rifle at the ready, Zaeed and Liara followed close by as Shepard led them slowly up the ramp. They arrived at the loading dock and hugged the wall near. The wall was part of an elevated structure which one of the buildings resided on, although the purpose of that building was unknown at the moment. The loading dock appeared void of Cerberus troopers, only machinery and crates were visible. Shepard observed a second elevated structure further down the loading dock which was connected to a large building, but the path there appeared blocked by a collapsed entrance.

"Negative contacts up here."

"Copy that Shepard." Garrus acknowledged from his position.

Shepard remembered the layout of the base and knew there was two similar inclined ramps running parallel to each other from the loading dock separated by a large wall, and he and his squad was standing on the edge of one of the ramps which led up to the courtyard above them. He peered around the corner of the wall and at the top of the ramp he saw movement up on the courtyard, but could not discern anything else.

Shepard quickly returned to cover and turned to Zaeed and Liara, "Cerberus troops above us."

"Good." Zaeed said. "Let's start the par'y befawer they figure somethin' out."

Shepard glanced at Garrus and the others down the tunnel, "Miranda get your team over here."

"Right away." Miranda responded and soon enough she, Garrus and Vega had joined the others.

Shepard had formulated a plan. Heading up either of the ramps could prove disastrous even with the few covers that were present, but he had noted a service ladder near him on the wall leading up to the building above them.

"Miranda, on my go, take your team up the ramp. I'll lead my squad through the building above us. Check your six so they don't flank you via the opposite ramp."

Miranda answered, "Understood."

Shepard holstered his rifle and began climbing up the ladder to upper floor and carefully glanced over the top. In front of him was a small storage room, with several stacked crates, which led into another room, but Shepard could not see anyone nearby.

"No hostiles." Shepard said and quickly pushed himself up the ladder and darted over to a crate for cover and he retrieved his rifle.

Moments later both Zaeed and Liara had joined him and silently scattered as they took cover behind some crates with their weapons drawn.

Shepard left the crate and quietly pushed ahead further down the room, clearing a corner and noticed an opening leading into the other room. Shepard heard movement past the wall and quickly hugged the wall with his back and moved as quietly as he could. He peered across the corner slightly and saw several troopers and engineers in the room, it seemed that the Cerberus squad inside were occupied with some kind of machine, possibly a switchboard, and had their backs to Shepard. The roof had collapsed at one time and a fairly large chunk of it was amassed in a large pile in the middle of the room.

Shepard quickly returned to cover and said, "Six hostiles on the other side, they haven't noticed us. Be ready to breach."

Both Zaeed and Liara acknowledged his order.

With one hand Shepard pulled out a grenade form one of his pouches and tossed it around the corner towards the gaggle of enemies in the middle of the room. Shepard quickly returned behind the wall and a moment later an explosion rocked the room and screaming in pain was heard.

Shepard was first through the opening with Zaeed and Liara close by. The grenade had detonated a few meters from the unsuspecting troopers and engineers, killing or incapacitating four of them. The two others were about to push themselves of the floor when Shepard's group quickly shot them.

"Clear." Shepard said and advanced forward, sweeping the room. He noted the switchboard on the wall which the engineers probably had been working on.

Zaeed quickly inspected the fallen enemies and noted that two of those caught in the grenade was still moving and grunted in pain, he quickly killed them with a few short bursts of fire from _Jessie_.

"Clear." Liara reported.

Miranda chimed in over the radio, "What's the situation up there?"

A sudden hail of bullets hit the wall and the ruble around Shepard, their dynamic entry into the room had drawn the attention of the rest of the Cerberus force in the base. Past the wall openings facing the courtyard a gaggle of troopers and Centurions advanced across the courtyard, darting from cover to cover while others laid down suppressive fire.

"Contact up front! Miranda, get your squad here!" Shepard called out and used the pile of rubble as cover and opened fire through the wall openings.

Liara assumed position near Shepard and opened fire with her submachine gun at the advancing enemies.

Zaeed quickly switched weapons to his M92 and peered through the sight, searching for targets. A trooper ran out of cover but suddenly stopped in his tracks as Liara manipulated dark energy and encased the enemy in a stasis field. Zaeed swiftly aimed at the trooper and squeezed of a round which penetrated the faceplate and instantly killed him. The dark energy wore off and the lifeless body fell to the ground.

* * *

Miranda led Garrus and Vega up the ramp, at the top they could see a fierce battle being fought.

On their own secure radio channel they could hear Shepard's team using communication to good effect as they apparently killed several of the Cerberus squad attacking them.

Reaching the top of the inclined ramp Miranda noticed there wasn't a lot of cover, but she noted several wall outcrops that hopefully were enough.

"Kill everything in sight." Miranda ordered as she slid behind cover and peered above it with her rifle. Garrus and Vega quickly found cover as well nearby and were ready to attack the enemies in front of them.

"Let's do this." Vega said.

The courtyard was dotted with several crates and containers amongst krogan machinery. And covering behind it all was a Cerberus team. Past Miranda's right Shepard's team was firing at the enemy, but neither she nor her two followers had any targets in sight.

Two smoke grenades landed in front of the crates being used by Cerberus for cover, impeding on any efficient counter-attack from Miranda's squad. But soon enough two Cerberus troopers with heavy shields emerged through the smoke, firing their pistols towards the building which Shepard's squad was taking cover in. Alliance intelligence had labeled these troops _Guardians_.

"Two contacts ahead." Vega called and rose from cover.

As the attacking Cerberus force had failed to notice Miranda's squad, they overwhelmed the two shield-wielding attackers with concentrated gunfire. After the first one went down, the second Guardian tried to turn to his right so he could protect his flank but was swiftly lifted off his feet and dropped his shield as Miranda unleashed her biotics which seconds later slammed the trooper into the ground. The crippled trooper was quickly killed by Garrus and Vega.

"Targets down." Garrus reported.

After initial contact with the enemy in the courtyard, Shepard could count five dead, two by Miranda's team and the rest had been taken care of by his team with extensive use of weapons and biotics.

Through his thermal scope Shepard saw three more troops advancing using the smoke as cover and he opened fire, shooting several quick bursts which killed one trooper as the others quickly scattered and returned to cover behind some crates.

"Zaeed, Liara. Move up." Shepard ordered as he scanned the area where the smoke was still present.

His two companions acknowledged this and quickly traversed the smallest parts of the rubble and took cover by the wall in front of them. Shepard soon left his position as well and darted over to a pillar and reloaded his rifle. He knelt down to make his figure more difficult to see and peered through the wall opening with his Harrier, the smoke had almost disappeared by now and they had a clear view of the courtyard.

"Fuck it." Zaeed mumbled near him. The mercenary pulled out a grenade from a pouch and hurled it down range and called, "Grenade out!"

The incendiary grenade landed near a crate further away and someone behind it shouted _'grenade'_ and two Centurions leaped out but they weren't fast enough to find new cover as the grenade detonated, hurling hot burning plasma in every direction, the two Centurions was caught in the blast and screamed in pain as the plasma burned through their armor.

Liara rose up and her body shimmered in blue as she unleashed a warp at one of the Centurions to take him out. The lone Centurion left was gunned down by Shepard.

The seconds ticked by as Shepard's team aimed their weapons down range.

"Anyone see anything?" Shepard called out.

"Negative-" Zaeed said but quickly ducked behind cover as the bang of a sniper rifle was heard and a round hit the wall next to him. Zaeed called out, "Incomin' fire!"

Both Shepard and Liara quickly returned to cover as well as several more rounds struck the wall.

"Sniper somewhere. Anyone see him?" Garrus called out from where the ramp and the courtyard connected. Miranda's squad's view was blocked by the large dividing wall that separated the two ramps from each other. The rounds come from somewhere further down the courtyard.

"No." Shepard said from behind his pillar. "But if I would venture a guess, the fire probably comes from the other building. They have an elevated position, watch yourselves."

Shepard quickly changed to his M29 instead and leaned out of cover with his rifle aimed towards the elevated building. It largely resembled the building they themselves occupied; it had several rows of large wall openings and also a ramp leading up to the entrance. Shepard saw movement, but didn't fire as it would be of no use until he had a much clearer target.

Scanning the other building Shepard saw a black clothed nimble figure peering out of cover from a wall opening. Shepard quickly snapped his sight to the figure's head and pulled of a three-round shot which killed the enemy.

"Threat down." Shepard calmly called out and continued scanning the building for targets and ordered, "Zaeed, Liara; cover the courtyard. Miranda move up."

Shepard's two companions acknowledged his orders and focused their weapons on the courtyard.

Miranda ordered, "Garrus, Vega on me."

Miranda quickly rounded her cover and moved into the courtyard and hugged a container nearby which had previously been used by the two dead Centurions who now was lying on the ground, smoldering from plasma burns. Garrus and Vega quickly followed her lead and they stopped next to her.

Shepard, seeing no threats at the moment, vaulted through the wall opening and ran down and took cover at some krogan machinery and leaned out with his rifle aimed at the building ahead.

"Movement." Zaeed called out from his position as he noted activity at the target building.

Through the entrance of the other building a Guardian stepped out and slowly walked down the ramp leading down to the courtyard firing his pistol. Behind him three troopers emerged and provided covering fire.

Shepard took aim with his powerful rifle and placed the crosshair on the shield's only real weak point, a tiny viewport designed so the wielder could see in front of him. Shepard fired his rifle and struck the Guardian's faceplate through the viewport and he fell to the ground dead, exposing the troopers in the back.

Liara unleashed a small singularity orb which quickly enveloped the troopers and trapped them, they screamed helpless.

"Got them!" Liara called out and she unleashed a warp which detonated the singularity; the biotic explosion cast the troopers around, inflicting deadly injuries as they hit rock-solid walls.

"No visual contacts." Shepard reported as he leaned out of cover and surveyed the immediate area in front of them, "But there could still ne enemies in the building.". Shepard turned around behind cover and gestured for Zaeed and Liara to join them. He quickly leaned out of cover again with his rifle ready.

When Zaeed and Liara and joined up, Shepard began crafting a plan.

"Miranda, your squad will provide cover as we traverse the courtyard. When we have reached the last set of covers you can join up."

"Understood." Miranda said.

Shepard turned to the two others behind him, "Ready?"

"Ready as ever." Liara said and reloaded her submachine gun.

"Yeah, let's waste 'em Shepard." Zaeed growled as he quickly holstered his M92 in favor of _Jessie_.

Shepard gave a hand gesture and quickly leapt out of cover and sprinted onwards with Zaeed and Liara in tow.

Vega quickly left cover behind Miranda and took up position at the krogan machinery were Shepard had been earlier and leaned out with his assault rifle in hand. Miranda and Garrus peered out of cover as well on opposite sides of the container they were behind.

Reaching the very end of the courtyard Shepard's squad promptly took cover and aimed their rifles at the building, covering Miranda's squad as they rushed up as well and took cover nearby.

"Let's clear the building. Flashbangs first then we breach." Shepard barked out. "Garrus and Zaeed on me, the rest provide cover fire. Garrus, you and me flash the room."

"Copy that Shep." Garrus responded.

"On you." Zaeed said.

Shepard quickly left cover with his team as the others stayed behind ready to provide cover fire.

Shepard's squad ended up at the ramp and slowly moved up as gunfire erupting from the inside, aimed at Miranda's squad. As the ramp reached higher, the wall leading parallel with the ramp shrunk and the team knelt down to remain hidden. Once near the entrance they stopped.

"Flashbangs on my go!" Shepard ordered and pulled out one from one of his pouches and Garrus did the same.

"Go!" Shepard yelled out and threw his flashbang around the corner of the entrance while Garrus hurled his in through the wall opening above them. A few seconds later the two grenades detonated with bright flashes and loud bangs, and Miranda's squad ceased their firing

Shepard rounded the corner and took a left. Inside they found several workstations centered in the middle of the room, one of them projected a large interface. There was also a six man Cerberus team inside near the walls overlooking the courtyard, and they were all dazed and disoriented by the two flashbangs that had detonated seconds ago. Shepard stopped nearby with Garrus and Zaeed near him; they raised their weapons and opened fire at the disoriented Cerberus squad. After several bursts of fire it was over.

"Clear upstairs," Shepard reported and he turned to the two others. "Sweep the rest of the room."

Garrus and Zaeed fanned out and began working their way through what was an apparent control room and found two separate small ramps leading downwards. Shepard walked over to one of the central workstations which projected a large interface of sorts. Even if the cannon-site had been built around the Krogan Rebellions, it had still seen recent use, even if they hadn't spotted any krogan bodies. For some reason the krogan that had occupied the base had left some time ago.

Miranda and her squad soon arrived in the control room.

Shepard looked up at the new arrivals, "Liara, take a look here."

Liara walked over to Shepard and glanced at the holographic interface. She activated her omni-tool and linked up with the computers.

"All clear." Garrus reported from the back as he and Zaeed returned from their sweep.

"Good. Set up a defensive perimeter. You to James." Shepard said still focused on the workstation.

Both Garrus and Zaeed set up at the wall overlooking the courtyard with their weapons ready. Vega took up position near the entrance.

After closely examining the interface Liara said, "The cannon is almost operational, the systems are up and running. But the computer reports power fluctuations, hence the engineers in the other building. It probably was some kind of power station."

Miranda chimed in as she walked over to the workstation and stopped in front of it, "Maybe they tried to reroute some power to get the cannon functioning."

Liara nodded, "Yes, very likely."

A turian voice was heard in their earpieces, _"Spectre 0-1, this is Vulture 3-2. We have been relayed information from planetary sweeps, the cruiser have been located. It's about 80 kilometers to the south in a large gorge. It's preparing to take off."_ The turian sensor-operator continued, _"We've also spotted three low-flying shuttles. Inbound on your location. ETA 1 minute. They are too low to get a radar track on."_

Miranda surmised, "They're headed here."

Shepard nodded and said dreary, "The troopers here probably called for help when we attacked. And if that cruiser comes within bombing range..."

"We're fucked." Zaeed growled.

Cortez chimed in, "Commander, I can keep an eye on the cruiser. I can be in range faster than any UCAV."

"Vulture, are you guys armed?" Shepard inquired.

_"Affirmative Spectre. What do you want us to do?"_

"Engage as many shuttles as you can, we'll get this cannon up and running and take out that cruiser."

_"Copy that Spectre 0-1. We're turning to engage."_

"Cortez, keep an eye on that cruiser." Shepard ordered.

_"On it Commander."_

Shepard looked at his assembled team and began issuing orders, "Miranda, take James and Liara with you and fix the power. We'll provide cover from up here and protect the control room."

"On it." Miranda said and headed for the exit. Liara and James joined her.

Shepard holstered his assault rifle and grabbed the M29 of his back-harness and headed over to the wall to get a good vantage position over the courtyard and the powerhouse in the distance.

* * *

From the control room onboard the _Ferrata_, the pilot at the controls steered the sleek UCAV through the sky while the sensor-operator readied the weapons and with the machine's electro-optical camera hunted after the Cerberus shuttles.

"Five kilometers." Reported the pilot.

The sensor-operator viewed through his camera the three shuttles that were swarming the base below the UCAV from three separate directions.

The sensor-operator pressed a button and called, "Master Arm on. Laser armed. Call contact?"

"Contact." Reported the pilot and leveled out the machine. "Wings leveled. You are cleared hot."

"Copy. Weapon's released." The sensor-operator pressed another button and a smoke-contrail could be seen on the camera as a missile left its rail on one on the wings and it began its terminal-guidance to its intended target.

* * *

Miranda and her squad quickly darted to cover behind the crates and containers in the courtyard as a team of Cerberus troops laid down suppressive fire at them from the powerhouse. A low-flying shuttle had shown up a few moments earlier and had descended near the edge of the base near the powerhouse; the view was obstructed by a large wall covering half of the target building but several troops took cover inside the powerhouse. Miranda's squad defended their position with a combination of biotics and small arms fire and with the sniper support from Shepard's squad at the control building they held their ground and slowly withered down the enemy. T

The noise of a shuttle was heard and a new Kodiak in Cerberus colors emerged above the base, it hovered above the powerhouse and several troops dropped down, controlling their descent with their jetpacks.

In their earpieces, Shepard and the others heard a calm and collected turian voice, _"Time on target, 5 seconds."_

A missile from above came screaming in over the base and struck the hovering shuttle above the powerhouse in the engine. The Kodiak spun aggressively out of control as the machine descended down the side of the cannon-base and crashed into the desert below them.

"_Splash! You got a third shuttle inbound and the first one seems to be leaving. Standby."_

The Kodiak that was offloading troops on the edge of the base quickly ascended and sped away from the battle and on queue a new shuttle showed up and headed away to insert troops near the docking bay instead in an attempt to have the Cerberus reinforcements flank Shepard's team but that plan appeared to be short-lived when a second missile from the turian UCAV came in from above and hit the target in the cockpit, instantly killing the Cerberus crew piloting the shuttle which then crashed down on the loading dock in a fiery explosion killing the occupants inside it.

The sensor-operator called out, _"Target destroyed, they're not going to be a problem."_

Shepard's squad kept firing at whatever target they could acquire from their vantage point and could take credit for a few kills, but an unknown number was still hold up in the powerhouse, trying to hold it.

A few smoke grenades released its content inside and outside the building in attempt to cover the advance of the Cerberus troops.

Emerging through the smoke was several Guardians followed by troopers and Centurions as they tried to push back Miranda's team, but with thermal sights on their weapons Shepard's squad could see their movement and claimed several kills despite the smoke cover. The Centurions tried to retreat back into cover but Miranda's squad unleashed an attack of bullets and biotics, either killing the opposing forces or severely injuring them.

Sensing a lull in their attack, Miranda darted out of cover and called on her squad, "On me!"

Vega and Liara promptly followed her across the courtyard and took cover by the large wall separating the powerhouse with the courtyard. The smoke had started to diminish and the remaining foes inside the building opened fire across the courtyard but were quickly defeated by Shepard's squad with Garrus claiming several kills as explosive rounds from the Krysae-rifle ripped apart several troopers behind cover as the proximity fuse on the rounds detonated.

Miranda peered out of cover with her rifle at the ready and scanned the wall openings ahead of her, she could see any enemies but there could still be survivors hiding further into the powerhouse behind the ruble.

"Liara, cover me." Miranda called and swept the corner to her left where a path led to the edge of the base. Seeing no hostiles there either, Miranda darted the short distance to the building and hugged the building's wall.

Behind the rubble a trooper leaned out of cover and opened fire through the wall opening but Liara quickly reacted and fired a short but well aimed burst at the trooper's torso, staggering the man from the kinetic impact of the rounds and she unleashed a devastating warp attack which killed the trooper.

"Liara follow me, Vega cover us." Miranda ordered.

"Understood." Liara called and quickly joined Miranda at the wall.

Miranda peered out of cover and swept the room and vaulted through the wall opening with Liara behind her.

A Centurion suddenly left cover behind the large pile of concrete and rubble but Miranda reacted quicker. She used her overload at the enemy, shortening out his shields and weapon and staggered from the attack. Behind them Vega opened fire at the Centurion who screamed as he fell to the ground.

Both Miranda and Liara quickly stepped over the ruble to clear the other half of the room only to find that the Centurion was the last enemy present.

"Clear down." Miranda called out.

"Copy that Miranda." Shepard responded in her earpiece.

Miranda aimed her weapon down the length of the room and noted the entrance to the adjacent room, sensing someone could hide behind there she motioned Liara to follow her as they quickly cleared the smaller room, but no one was there, and they returned to the room with the switchboard.

"Liara, get the power rerouted." Miranda ordered.

The asari rushed over to the switchboard and activated her omni-tool and began working.

Vega vaulted through the wall opening and rejoined the two biotics.

A few moments later Liara was successful and the system was back in normal electrical mode.

"Done!" Liara exclaimed relieved. "I've rerouted the power."

* * *

"Good work," Shepard praised as he rose from cover. "Then it's time to test the cannon. Get back here."

Shepard holstered his rifle and turned to the workstation and radioed Cortez, "Lieutenant, what's the status on that cruiser?"

"I'm tracking it; you better hurry Commander it's getting closer."

Shepard stopped at the workstation and saw the base's radar tracking the cruiser. Shepard punched in a few buttons and acquired the target. Shepard smirked grimily under the faceplate of his helmet and pressed the fire control button.

"Firing cannon!" Shepard called out to warn the others.

A moment later the powerful cannon shook the base as the two barrels simultaneously fired one round each at the target. At the speeds generated it would only take a few seconds for the cannon rounds to reach the target, well out of visual range for Shepard to confirm anything.

Cortez exclaimed animated, _"Direct starboard hit, Commander! Target breaking up. Repeat, direct hit."_

Miranda's team entered the control room and Vega was as triumphant as Cortez was, "That's what I'm talking about."

"Alright, good work everyone. Cortez, pick us up." Shepard said.

_"On my way Commander."_

"Vulture, thanks for the support guys." Shepard radioed the _Ferrata_.

"_You got it Commander, you owe us a beer," _Responded the sensor-operator.

Shepard chuckled, "Anytime."

* * *

After returning to the Normandy Shepard took the elevator to the CIC and headed straight for the War Room as the rest of his squad parted ways. In the QEC-room, EDI connected to Admiral Hackett and Shepard was waiting for the Admiral.

Soon enough Shepard stood in front of the Hackett's holo.

"Commander, we received a flash message from the Normandy. I understand the situation is under control."

Shepard nodded, "Yes sir. The cannon is in our hands and the cruiser is destroyed with a lot of Cerberus troops."

Hackett smiled and nodded approvingly, "Good work Commander. With that cannon secured, Cerberus has actually given us a tactical advantage in that theatre. I will brief Rear Admiral Santini and have her deploy marines to guard that cannon just in case Cerberus would try anything again."

"Right. I'll inform Wrex, just so he knows we'll be stationing troops there."

"Understood. Hackett out."

The connection was terminated and Shepard left the QEC-room and found Wrex standing at the central table, the krogan had just arrived.

"I'm hearing you killed a lot of those human supremacists down there." Wrex said.

"We secured the cannon Wrex. Why was it abandoned in the first place? It didn't' feel ancient, it seemed like it had been maintained at the very least."

Shepard walked down the steps and stopped near Wrex.

"It was, but Clan Jorgal is spread thin and the krogan garrisoned there had to leave. Jorgal have a lot of scouts out and looking for the machines. There's still no invasion attempt, but I'm getting new reports of skirmishes between my people and the machines."

"That doesn't sound good." Shepard said worried.

Wrex shook his head, "No, but they won't take Tuchanka."

"The Seventh will arrive tonight; I hope you are alright with having Alliance marines stationed at the cannon-base for the duration of the mission."

Wrex pondered Shepard's words and nodded, "Fine. As Jorgal is busy it'll be properly secured. I'll inform their leadership."

Shepard nodded, "Good."

* * *

_**I actually didn't plan to include this mission to begin with, but I got a few ideas to incorporate it into the story, as well as ideas to expand the mission. **_

_**Quotes: Black Hawk Down, The Hunt for Red October (including a scene for inspiration), Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.**_

_**Thanks for the reviews.**_

_**Edited (2013-01-12): Some slight changes, credit to xXserialkillerXx for assistance.  
**_


	28. Doubts

As the Normandy soared through space, and not much else was happening and despite having eaten breakfast only an hour earlier, Joker left the starship in EDI's capable 'hands' as he took a quick detour to the empty mess hall to grab something edible to bring back to the cockpit. Settling on some salami sandwiches with some salad, Joker quickly went to work and put together three quite large sandwiches, stowing away everything again in one of the refrigerators he also grabbed a bottle of juice to go before he closed the door and suddenly found himself face to face with the XO. As he hadn't heard Miranda's arrival, her sudden appearance startled Joker enough for him to almost drop the bottle in his hands.

Joker exclaimed surprised, "Holy Hell! Miranda, you just scared me to death. I thought you could have been somebody deadly."

With her trademark white and black cat suit on this morning, Miranda crossed her arms under her breasts and leaned on her left hip and glared at Joker. She declared coldly, "I am somebody deadly. Someone who's trained in over 200 ways to kill you."

Joker took a step back to the counter and chuckled nervously under her stare, "Ha, of course you are." He quickly grabbed the plate of sandwiches and continued rapidly, "Well I'm heading back. The Normandy doesn't fly itself, you know?"

Joker quickly walked past her as Miranda turned to follow him with her eyes and she said sternly, "Actually, it does. EDI can do what you do and we would only loose somebody nosy. No one I'd lament being rid off."

Joker chuckled nervously again but said nothing as he quickly disappeared past the corner of the mess hall on the way to the elevator.

Out of sight from Joker, Miranda grinned mischievously at the apparent success of her mission.

* * *

Shepard had spent some time in the QEC-Room and debriefed Admiral Santini on the current situation. Both the Seventh Fleet and the turian fleet had arrived during the night and quite an impressive military force was now assembled in the Aralakh-system, dispersed throughout it. Shepard had left the War Room and was now waiting for the elevator in the CIC as it was apparently on its way already. The elevator quickly arrived and the door slid open. Joker hastily stepped out and almost walked right into Shepard and near spilled his food on the Commander.

Joker exclaimed surprised, "Christ! Do you two work in tandem, Commander?"

"Easy there Lieutenant." Shepard chided before he asked confused, "What are you talking about?"

Joker walked aside and took a step away from Shepard who positioned himself in the opening of the elevator so it wouldn't close.

"Your girlfriend threatened me," Joker complained rattled.

"What?" Shepard asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, that she knows 200 ways to kill me."

Shepard chuckled at Joker's apparent flustered state.

"You know, I can't work under these circumstances. It's stressful as it is."

"Don't you watch buttons flash 98% percent of the time?" Shepard asked deadpanned with a grin.

"Whatever Commander. I'm heading back to my little sanctuary here."

"Where is she?" Shepard asked and walked into the elevator.

"Mess hall." Joker called back as he walked away towards the cockpit.

Shepard pressed the corresponding button and the elevator descended down one deck and he quickly exited when the door opened. He walked around the corner and saw Miranda in the kitchen preparing something and he headed over there.

Shepard smirked, "I'm hearing reports that you are threatening my pilot. I can't have that."

Miranda looked up and shrugged with a grin, "I did nothing of the sort. He didn't think I was deadly so I had to remind him of my abilities."

"Of course you did." Shepard said and ended up near her, leaning on the counter behind her. "What are you doing?"

Miranda turned around and plopped a grape into her mouth, "Just preparing a bowl of grapes. I'm heading up to do some work."

"Okay,"

Miranda grinned again, "I think Joker has forgotten who I am, considering his frolicking-comment yesterday on the intercom, I needed to remind him. He used to be afraid of me, you know?"

Shepard chuckled, "Maybe he noticed that you've changed. Others may have as well."

Miranda shook her head, "Not good for my reputation."

"The evil ex-Cerberus operative, right?" Shepard asked grinning.

"Something like that." Miranda answered with a shrug. She turned and grabbed her bowl of grapes from the counter. "What are you up to?"

"Just briefed Admiral Santini and will be doing my rounds, bothering people. An unofficial debrief after our last mission, just to see were everyone's minds are."

"Okay. Well, I'll be going, I have some things to do."

Shepard nodded, "Of course."

Miranda smiled and turned away and walked away, swaying her hips for him.

Shepard's eyes roamed her behind and he said deadpanned, "It's a shame you have to sit on something that pretty."

Miranda chuckled and turned around to face him and said playfully, "You really know how to make a woman feel good about herself."

Shepard shrugged and smirked, "One of my many talents."

"I'm sure," Miranda smiled and turned to leave for the elevator.

* * *

Mordin tapped his chin and looked intently on the monitor in front of him. The work on the cure was progressing forward, slowly, but he was making head way on it. He was thankful for the equipment at hand and that Dr. Chakwas agreed to let him use the infirmary. Mordin still insisted on that she had access to it, despite Shepard _'throwing her out'_, but Chakwas assured him that their Commander was joking and nothing else. Which in hindsight made sense for Mordin, Shepard usually had a jovial spirit. But Mordin wouldn't mind having his old lab instead of the infirmary; it had much better suited equipment. But difficult working conditions were more inspiring and challenging then the easy road.

Mordin began speaking out loud for himself as he studied the results, things weren't going as planned this morning, "Maybe with an inhibitor?" Mordin quickly shook his profusely and chided himself, "No-no-no-no, entire catalyzing process would fail. Severe neurological damage. Never mind."

From behind him he heard Eve asking puzzled, "What are you talking about?"

Mordin glanced back at the bed and answered rapidly, "Method to extract functional cure without killing you. Many variables. Your immune system comprised. Considering options."

"And you have to do it out loud?"

"Yes. Auditory learner. Need to hear self think, stimulate conversation to promote ideas, maximize productivity," Mordin stated the obvious reasons for him speaking out loud.

"But you are talking about me dying." Eve declared disapprovingly.

The ramifications of his manner dawned upon the salarian, "Oh. Apologies. Medical details causing emotional distress. Hadn't considered effect on patient."

"Not, it just means I can't sleep." Eve answered dryly.

Mordin tried to reassure her, "Doing my best to keep you alive. Will avoid...sensitive subjects."

The door to the infirmary slid open and Mordin turned to see that Shepard strolled in with a friendly smile.

"Ah, Shepard. Good morning."

"Morning Mordin." Shepard said and then glanced at Eve, "Good morning to you too Eve. I hope everything's alright?"

Eve snorted and said deadpanned, "Yes, despite Mordin talking about me dying."

"Now-now," Mordin declared defensively and turned to her, "already explained that. Important for my work."

Shepard chuckled as he stepped up to Mordin, "I see you two are getting along."

"Hmm, yes. Females much more agreeable then male krogan." Mordin stated as he turned to back face Shepard.

"Didn't see you earlier at breakfast." Shepard said.

"No. Need to work. Ate much earlier than everyone else. No salarian food available, luckily I find human food tasteful." Mordin rapidly explained

"Alright then. So how is everything going with the cure?"

Mordin took a deep breath, "Progressing. Just finalized the blood work. It indicates severe stress on Eve's system. Maelon's data is detailed and thorough. It will help immensely to improve her condition."

Shepard nodded, "Good to hear. While on the subject of Maelon, have you heard anything from him?"

Mordin shook his head, "Not, not after we let him escape. Possibly he left Tuchanka. Or killed by krogan. Or killed by tuchanka wild life. Impossible to know. Could have left for Omega as I suggested."

"Well, Omega was invaded and taken over by Cerberus a few months ago so if he went there...anything could have happened."

"Ah yes," Mordin pondered, "heard about that. Also understand you liberated the station."

"We got Aria and her mercenaries to work for us," Shepard explained. "And we got to deliver a blow to Cerberus operations so it worked out for everyone."

"If Maelon left for Omega, he might not be alive, but I would kill him myself. Unless he could help." Mordin added crestfallen, "Hope Daniel is alright though."

"I didn't check around for your old clinic, Mordin." Shepard explained. "We were never in that district."

"It's alright. Will do some digging when time permits."

One Shepard's eyebrow rose, "If you still want to kill Maelon, why didn't you go ahead while we were on Tuchanka?"

Mordin inhaled, "You stopped me. Convinced me otherwise. But I still think his acts were despicable. Still feel it would be safest to kill him. But alas..." Mordin shrugged.

"Right. I also remember that you always defended your genophage work. What changed your mind?"

Mordin gestured with his arms and shook his head, "Never changed mind. Genophage best course of action at time. New circumstances necessitate course correction."

Shepard stated the obvious, "The Reapers."

"Yes. Without krogan support the turians are doomed. And without the turians you don't have the makings of an alliance against the Reapers. Also, krogan need unified outlet for aggression. Cooperative symbiosis."

"Hmm, yes, and after the war? What _'unified outlet for aggression'_ will the krogan focus on then?"

Mordin pondered Shepard's word for a moment before Eve interjected, "I'll fight for a different krogan, Commander. So will Wrex. A unified krogan under a new banner can change everything. I've already explained this."

Mordin nodded, "We can't let old times dictate, they deserve a chance."

Shepard turned to Eve on her bed, "Yes, but there will be those krogan who oppose a new direction. Those who might go an extra length to...interfere and turn all that change back into a destructive pattern." Shepard shrugged, "I'm just saying what others have on their mind regarding all this."

"I understand that Commander. But I truly believe it all can change." Eve implored.

Shepard nodded in agreement and turned to Mordin.

Mordin chimed in, "Hostile natural environments, diseases, famine, wars, harsh circumstances in general nurture aggressive and hostile creatures. Circumstances that all other races were able to overcame thanks to various combinations or often random factors. When salarians uplifted the krogan race it was the most unfortunate moment in their history. In the state that we found them they were unlikely to seize the opportunity and undergoing the long process that we did when we were still stranded on our planets before they waged war on us. However we foolishly gave them new planets as gestures of gratitude, thinking that it would turn any aggression they might have had away from us. And if not we hoped that the "gun to their head" would be enough, when we demobilized and recuperated our losses we had no idea that our gifts along with their birth rate were enough to tip the balance".

"So no personal stakes in this?"

Mordin looked down on the floor solemnly, "Salarian lives short. Don't have many years left," he looked up but with newfound more vigor, "I'm the best candidate for this project. Wish to leave behind my mark on the galaxy. This is a proper legacy. And very few salarians interested in the genophage. No one with my expertise so it had to be me."

Shepard smiled faintly, "Someone else might have gotten it wrong."

Mordin nodded, "Quite possibly. Stakes to high for inexperienced to take part. But not about them." Mordin clarified, "My work. My job to put it right. To prove I can."

"So keeping the data was the right thing to do?"

"Indeed. It's essential to treat Eve. It could have been much hard, impossible even, without it."

"And all those experiments we saw on Tuchanka?"

Mordin frowned, "Monstrous. Repulsive. But they served a purpose. Curing the genophage so those victims didn't die for nothing."

"So the end justifies the means?"

Mordin frowned, "Not my means."

Shepard pressed on, "But you are using the data which in the end will encourage more of the same experiments like Maelon did."

Mordin said dismissively, "Encouragement irrelevant. Will always be scientists willing to perform unethical tests. Can't change that." Mordin glanced at the krogan and spoke softly, "But can help Eve. Can cure the genophage. Won't ignore data vital to her survival because of unethical origins."

"I see."

Mordin turned to Shepard and inquired, "Haven't you pushed the boundaries a few times because you had to, Shepard? Like Bahak?"

Shepard nodded grimly, "I have. And you are correct, unfortunately sometimes it's necessary. But Bahak for instance wasn't something I did on a whim, but I had to do it. I delayed the Reapers when that star system evaporated."

Mordin spat, "Maelon could've done things differently if he wanted to save the krogan. More…proper experiments instead of the easy road. The quick road he took was despicable. "

Shepard nodded, "Yeah. Have you figured out why Eve is immune?"

"Genophage targets hormone production during pregnancy. Modification project used same modality. Her...immunity as you call it is totally different. Targeted glands now obsolete." Mordin tapped his chin and thought about a good way to describe it, "Ah, as human appendix. Other glands mutated to produce proper hormones which enable viable birth. This also explains her weakness, gland substitution imperfect which leads to health trouble."

"I understand. And you think you can make this work for all krogan?"

Mordin nodded proudly, "Yes. Will use Eve's and Wrex's tissue mutagen as altered gland function is spread across entire species. But must improve mutagen as well, tune hormone production otherwise long-term illness for all krogan."

Shepard glanced at Eve's direction, "So what's the prognosis on her, Mordin?"

Mordin turned to look at Eve as well, "She has no fever but her heart rate is elevated. Probably stress related. She is eating properly. She could use a blanket or something soft." Mordin turned to Shepard, "My medical recommendation is for her to recover fully before I synthesize the cure."

From her end of the room Eve interjected vigorously, "My people can't wait that long."

"She is of another opinion." Mordin said calmly.

"I'll see to that a blanket get's up here from the cargo bay."

Mordin smiled, "Thank you Shepard. Considerate of you."

"So you two are getting along then, you care about her."

Mordin spoke softly, "My patient. My responsibility. When I arrived at the STG base, three doctors tried to restrain her. They were injured. I intervened. Undid her restrains. Didn't resist when she grabbed me. Promised I would help her. She said 'please'."

"I can't understand how they treated her and her sisters."

"Not many salarians care about krogan, but then again krogan doesn't care about salarians. Had to step in. The females were very sick. I needed to help."

"I see. So what about Wrex?" Shepard grinned, "I heard you got your samples but that it wasn't a very welcomed procedure from Wrex's side."

Mordin inhaled, "Yes, he wasn't to found of a salarian doing medical work on him. But we've gone past that and have now formed something of a cross-species relational bond."

"Uh...like friendship?"

Mordin shook his head, "No, more like an agreement not to inflict bodily harm to each other."

Shepard chuckled, "Right. Glad you guys cleared that up."

"Hmmm, yes. He's slow to trust salarians."

"It's not difficult to understand why."

"Perhaps, but I think he's probably the most collected male krogan I've run into. Most likely your influence."

"That's saying something I guess," Shepard pondered before he said friendly, "Well Mordin, I'll leave you to your work. It was good talking to you. Until next time."

"Yes, always a pleasure talking to you Shepard," Mordin responded friendly and turned around to focus on his scientific machines.

* * *

Sitting in front of her laptop in the office of their quarters, Miranda was keeping herself busy. She was supposed to write the report on the previous Tuchanka mission but had instead taken the time to read Mordin's initial findings from his very quick examination a few days earlier. She had tried to tell herself that she didn't have time to read his files, that writing the Sur'Kesh-report and the summit had to be her priority. But in reality she had been a little apprehensive. She didn't want to get her hopes up, something Mordin had displayed which was also evident in his texts, but Miranda herself still had bouts of uncertainty and anxiety.

She blamed John and their emotional conversation of that day. All the emotions which had surfaced likely were the culprit to why she had agreed on even considering looking into her infertility. John was much more sappy and romantic then she was, he of course only wanted to help her, but it had all gone a little overboard despite that she had suppressed her uncertainty about it all. With the Reapers here, was it really wise thinking about her infertility?

Miranda read through Mordin's notes. For a better and deeper understanding of her condition a thorough examination and a lab test was required during the menstrual cycle. Mordin recommended Dr. Chakwas' presence for the physical exams, which Miranda was in favor of. Mordin was certainly gifted but if she would consider such an intimate examination, she would feel more comfortable if a human examined her. But she was apprehensive; it was yet another person which would know of her infertility. But Miranda also felt that submitting to such an examination at this time was rather selfish. It wasn't like her life was at risk if she didn't allow the examination.

A sudden message window that popped up in the lower-right corner of the screen drew away her attention from Mordin's files.

_Thank God. Something else to focus on,_ Miranda thought tiredly.

She opened message and smiled after she had read it; Oriana wanted to talk over video. Disregarding their mail correspondence, the two sisters hadn't talked in real time for almost a week so Miranda felt she could happily set aside her duties writing reports to chat with her sister for a while. Miranda started the office computer and typed away at the keyboard; she set up the connection and waited. Miranda also extended the operating system's desktop to the large see-through-model case of all the ship models in front of her. The window turned opaque before the desktop had been processed just in time as her sister had connected successfully as well.

"Hey Ori." Miranda said heartfelt as she gazed at image of her sister.

_"Evening Randa."_ Oriana responded on the other end happily but evidently tired.

"You are tired I see. A lot to do?"

_"Oh God, yes. A long day. Expanding the colonization effort to provide help for civilians is hard work." _Oriana waved her hand and dismissed the work related, _"But enough of that. I just got back to my apartment and want to unwind and talk to you before I go to bed."_

Miranda smiled proudly of her sister. With the war going on she wanted her elsewhere, but Oriana was a very dedicated young woman and determined to help others. And when she had set a task to be accomplished she intended to do just that. Oriana reminded Miranda of herself a bit on that part, although Oriana worked on much...nobler and gracious endeavors then Miranda had done at that age. Less clandestine. Exactly what Miranda wanted for Oriana.

_"Is everything alright with you? What are you up to?"_

"Yes, I'm fine. I was planning to write a report and review some work but your call came in the way."

Oriana smirked, _"I hope you won't get in trouble for ignoring your work, sis?"_

Miranda chuckled and leaned back into the chair a bit, "Doubtful."

_"Well that is good to hear."_

"I hope everything's alright with your parents."

_"Yes. They're a little anxious about me being here. And apparently their colony is planning to start evacuation just to be safe. Thankfully both mom and dad work in colonial affairs so they will be some of the first to go. But they're on the other side of the galaxy..."_ Oriana drifted away with a hint of worry in her voice. She put on a brave face.

"I'm sure they will be alright." Miranda tried to comfort her younger sister. Which were difficult light years away when talking to each other on monitors. Plus Miranda didn't think she was very good with comforting.

_"Yes. Apparently they will go to some asari colonies which are taking in people. Far away from anything remotely dangerous." _Oriana explained, finding some relief in that.

Miranda faintly smiled, "That's good to hear."

Oriana smiled as well, encouraged by her sister's presence, _"Yes. But they appeared more worried about me though."_

"I understand that. And I'm to, just be careful." Miranda said worryingly.

_"We haven't talked in a while; it's good to see you."_ Oriana glanced at her the elder sister with a sly smile,_ "Interesting outfit."_

Of course. The younger sister had never seen it before. Miranda had worn combat armor on Illium the year before and the times when she met Oriana she had worn a regular business outfit. Hiding from Cerberus meant that she had to draw as little attention to herself as possible. And even with regular clothes that had still been problematic.

"This?" Miranda crossed a leg over the other one and gazed down on her body before she looked up again and shrugged, "I guess. I have a few. Why hide my body? It was clearly a useful distraction when I did undercover work. Just another thing I can use to my advantage."

_"I suspect the Commander approves,"_ Oriana asked with a grin.

Miranda smirked, "He does. But it's not just for looks. It's a combat hard suit with all the necessities that comes with that."

Orianas eyes widened a bit and she asked dubiously, _"Are you telling me you have that on you when on missions?"_

Miranda grinned and shook her head and explained, "Undercover work yes, but with the types of mission John drags me along on I use actual combat armor."

_"Be careful."_ Oriana implored apprehensive.

"I am Ori." Miranda reassured with a smile.

_"Good."_ Oriana chuckled, _"My sister, the super spy."_

"Something like that," Miranda laughed

_"So how is life on a warship? I've only been on commuter ships."_

"It's crowded at times and during transit it can get a little dull. The food is actually better than regular Alliance provisions, but that's because John orders civilian rations. I miss my quarters a bit."

Oriana raised an eyebrow, _"You are not sitting in your own office?"_

Miranda shook her head, "No...Liara T'Soni took possession of the XO quarters before I came onboard."

_"An asari?"_

"Yes."

_"So...where do you live now?"_

"With John."

Oriana exclaimed with a smile, _"Oh! That's so romantic."_

"It does have its moments." Miranda confessed with a faint smile.

_"Good, and we got to the subject of Commander Shepard and I didn't even have to push,"_ Oriana smirked.

"Oh no," Miranda mumbled.

Oriana continued teasing, _"Don't be like that. You have ignored a bunch of questions in mails lately so it's only fair that we continue."_

"A few questions then," Miranda said evenly. She remembered what John had told her; that her sister only wanted to be part of her life. And it was apparent that Oriana was genuinely happy for her. But Miranda was also contemplating the atmosphere in the relationship and wasn't in the mood to divulge her thoughts at the moment, at least not until she'd spoken with John, but she decided to play along a bit.

Oriana smiled mischievously, _"If you live together, does that mean you sleep together?"_

Miranda turned flustered by the question, her cheeks were blushed with embarrassment, "I…we…ah…"

Oriana burst into a fit of laughter at her older sister's reaction; she calmed down a few moments later and said, _"This is so fun."_

Miranda huffed after having calmed down, "Not really."

_"I'll take that as a yes. Don't worry Randa, I'll not embarrass you with any more sex-questions."_ She smiled innocently, _"For a while at least."_

Miranda sighed and shook her head. _Is it too much to expect some privacy in my relationship with John and our intimate life? _Miranda looked at her sister, who was clearly enjoying the situation._Probably not._

Oriana smirked again playfully, _"Is the Commander a snuggler?"_

With an unreadable expression Miranda pondered the question for a few moments until she finally said with a coy smile, "Perhaps."

Oriana protested_, "Come on Randa_! _Yes or no."_

Miranda grinned feeling in control for once, "We snuggle. That's all I'm going to say."

_"Hmm. Alright then,"_ Oriana said, accepting the response under protest. But then she smirked, _"Any competition onboard?"_

"Doubtful. But Liara did have a crush on him once. As with others, I suspect it's more akin to hero worshiping."

_"Really? And you are okay with her onboard?"_

Miranda shrugged, "She hasn't made any advances on John. And I have no problem with her, I like her."

_"I see," _Oriana said dubious._ "So why do you bring her up then?"_

"Liara showed some interest him in years ago. But that was then. A dose of hero worship on her part."

_"Hero worship? Is that common?"_

Miranda sighed a bit and gave in, "Apparently yes. It seems that almost every other woman in the galaxy is infatuated by him all the time."

_"And the Commander…?"_

Miranda smiled, "John is unaffected by it all."

Oriana teased, _"Oh? He only has eyes on someone special I gather."_

Miranda nodded with a smile but it wore of as she continued, "But I'm still annoyed by it all. I don't like it."

_"And what about the 'others'?"_

Miranda snorted, "Ugh, his ex for one."

_"Ah yes, there's always an ex around. Tell me."_

"I don't like her. She isn't onboard, thankfully, and I suspect she's been trying to get back together with him since he now is back with the Alliance again."

_"She tried to…steal him back?" _Oriana asked carefully.

"I'm unsure how actively she tried, but John made it clear that he had moved on." Miranda spat, "And then the bitch slapped him when she realized he was dating me."

_"What?"_ Oriana asked surprised. _"You two know each other?"_

"No, but she inadvertently knows about my…former employer and that was enough to set her off. So her efforts fell through the roof. I don't think she's an issue anymore, but I still don't like her."

_"You've never told me this. So he left her for you?"_

Miranda nodded, "They bumped into each other once – before John and I got together – and because he was working with Cerberus last year she called him a traitor. Amongst other hurtful words. John wasn't happy and moved on with his life."

Oriana smirked, _"So you snagged him up."_

Miranda chuckled, "Not exactly. But he found his way into my life instead…or maybe it's the other way around." Miranda shook her head and said, "Regardless, he's with me now."

Oriana said mock-seriously, _"Well he better treat you right or I'll come over and teach him otherwise."_

Miranda smiled and chuckled at her sister's protectiveness, "Don't worry Ori, he is treating me right." Miranda smirked, "Plus I have him wrapped around my finger."

_"Randa! That's not very nice of you!"_ Oriana exclaimed surprised at her older sister's possessive streak.

"What? He's mine now and nobody else's," Miranda said deadpanned

_"You are an evil woman, sis."_ Oriana said with a grin.

Miranda continued with a mischievous grin of her own, "Oh, you have no idea. And I know what I want."

_"Maybe I should get over there and teach you some proper manners instead."_

The two sisters shared a giggle.

_"So any more juicy details you want to divulge?" _Oriana asked with a smirk.

"I think you have had enough to last you a while now."

_"Well, at least you are having regular sex. Something I don't have."_

"I did not hear that one, Ori," Miranda protested.

Oriana giggled, _"Well, there are a quite a few marines here in the capital you know-"_

Miranda's eyes widened in shock and she interrupted sternly, "I'm coming over there this instant if you complete that sentence."

_"I'm just teasing!"_ Oriana protested laughing at Miranda's flustered state before she composed herself and inquired with mirth in her eyes, _"So you are allowed to date a marine, but I'm not?"_

"That's different. I have life experience you lack." Miranda said evenly.

_"You are aware off that I did have sex with Danner until we broke up, right?"_

Miranda shook her head and sighed.

Oriana continued, _"You don't need to worry, I'm not interested in marines. I rather be with a guy that have a much calmer job."_

"Thank God," Miranda sighed with relief.

Oriana smirked, _"So, is he good in bed?"_

"I'm not answering that one."

Oriana shrugged, _"Well, you can't fault me for trying at least."_ She paused and contemplated, "You know, with the war going on, I miss someone in my life. You are lucky Randa."

"He broke up with you. He didn't deserve you." Miranda pointed out. Believing that Oriana blamed herself for the breakup months earlier.

_"Yes I know. That's not the issue,"_ Oriana explained evenly. _"The issue is that I want someone in my life during all this."_

"Oh, yes, I can understand that," Miranda said softly, realizing what her sister actually meant. Earlier in the spring Oriana's boyfriend whom she'd met in history class, Danner Gossimah, had broken off their relationship. It had been her sister's first boyfriend. Miranda of course didn't have much experience herself in relationships, but considering their young age, it felt like an immature relationship which was bound to be a short one. It was one of the reasons Oriana had left her home during the summer to work with colony construction on Horizon to clear her head. And then she had elected to stay when the war broke out.

_"I'm a little jealous Randa. The way you talk about the Commander in a way makes me wish for a stable and mature relationship."_

"But why do you want to talk about it then? Doesn't it feel like I'm just rubbing it in?" Miranda asked curious.

_"Oh, not at all Randa. I want to hear about it because you seem so happy, and sisters should gossip about boys."_ Oriana grinned,_ "Plus it's fun to tease you."_

"I'm not surprised about that. You tease me all the time," Miranda answered with a mock-glare.

Oriana chuckled, _"That's what I'm talking about." _She continued with a sigh, _"Call me silly, but I just want someone so I feel...I don't know. Safe perhaps? Someone that's there for me."_

Miranda faintly smiled, "I mean for once I'm happy and John would..."

Miranda lowered her head a bit and drifted away as she began to analyze what she was about to say.

There had been some very deep confessions between them recently, and she felt more ecstatic then ever as their relationship had evolved. But she had also begun to scrutinize their confessions a bit. She didn't regret for a second that the relationship had evolved, quite the opposite because she did love him, but the atmosphere in the relationship was something she felt might be too good to be true at the moment. She was not naive, and if it had been any other time when there wasn't a war going on she would have ignored it, but she had begun to realize that John had made her a promise which caused her to feel some occasional anxiety when she thought about it.

_He'd said he would do anything for me._

_But could he really keep that promise?_

Miranda hadn't realized that she had been quiet for a few moments until Oriana's voice was heard through the speakers.

_"What?"_ Oriana glanced at her sister's video feed from her side of the galaxy curiously.

Miranda's head jerked up at the video feed and she faintly smiled, "I just drifted away in my thoughts."

This was something she would have to take up with John when time permitted, for now she pushed the thoughts aside. Thankfully Oriana hadn't caught on to her change. It'd been somewhat different if they had been in the same room.

Miranda continued as nothing had happened, "It's not silly that you want to feel safe."

_"No, it's pretty universal." _She smiled,_ "I'm very happy for you Randa. _"

Miranda smiled back, "Thanks."

Oriana yawned a bit and stretched in her office chair on the video feed, _"I think I'll go to sleep now Randa, I'm getting tired."_

"Yes of course."

The younger sister smiled warmly, _"It was great talking to you again, sis."_

Miranda returned a smile of her own, "Likewise. I'll always have time when you call."

_"Bye Randa."_

"Bye."

Miranda pressed a button on the keyboard and severed the connection. She quickly turned off the office computer and turned her attention to her laptop. She saved all the open documents and decided to work on that later; she needed to think some things over and turned off the laptop and headed for the couch in the lounge below.

* * *

Shepard strolled through the door to their quarters. After talking with Mordin he had continued his rounds and it seemed like his team was in good spirits and that they were ready for another mission if need be. He planned to unwind a bit and go through Miranda's finished reports and have them sent to Admiral Hackett. After that it was probably a good time for supper. Shepard contemplated if he and Miranda couldn't have a quiet supper in their quarters instead of in the mess hall.

He found the office empty and suspected to find his significant other in the lounge and continued down the steps. He saw her sitting in the conch in silence, with one leg over the other and apparently intently focusing her mind on something with an unreadable expression.

"Hey," Shepard said smiling as he stopped near the armchair.

Miranda looked up impassive, "Hi."

Shepard stopped smiling and looked at her curiously, "Something on your mind?"

Miranda nodded and said afflicted, "Actually, yes. I've been going over some things that I feel needs to be discussed. Care to sit down?" Miranda gestured towards the armchair. _Going over something is an understatement indeed, _Miranda thought to herself.

Shepard sat down and asked, "What's the problem?"

"I've been thinking about our rather emotional conversation the other day."

"I'm listening." Shepard glanced at Miranda, finding her behavior curious. Of course arguments were nothing new; it was the process of being in a relationship.

Miranda turned to Shepard and crossed her arms while seemingly contemplating her next move for a few moments.

She took a deep breath and explained calmly, "With the war, and everything that's at stake, you've told me what you know you can't do. Made promises you can't keep. You've lied to me when at my most vulnerable. And the worst thing of all is that I believed you. _'I'll do anything for you?'_ I've seen people act like that and I mocked them. And then I've seen their relationship fail and I knew I was right to do so."

Miranda had been going over their emotional conversation over and over; she'd been overwhelmed at the time by all the emotions, and now she felt fooled after what she was made to believe so quickly.

Shepard clenched his teeth and turned irritated, "Wait, what? Lied to you? You are making some kind of villain out of me because I got a little caught up in the moment? I... I felt that way and for any practical purposes I think it was true."

Shepard cleared his throat and reeled in his irritation. He didn't want to escalate the situation further. It didn't mean he wasn't offended by her words that his affection was somehow received negatively, but he elected to remain calm and collected. It seemed that the old Miranda had resurfaced a bit. And her comments did feel slanted to Shepard, considering she had once told him she had never loved anyone before nor been in a real relationship so her own experience was limited.

Miranda had a slightly cynical tone to her voice when she continued, "I know everything behind love. People like to think that it is something more, something beyond this world. But all it is are hormones like dopamine flooding the brain."

"I know that. But does it change how you feel?" Shepard asked evenly."There are a lot of dangers to love. I know how it makes people act and I don't just give in. But with the right person it's worth it."

"And what if it's not enough? What if the right person in the end isn't worth it?"

Miranda had contemplated her sister's own situation, not that her relationship with John was an immature fling, but the reality was that their relationship could fail anytime as well. And with the war…

"Look. The vulnerability that this emotion exposes us to is just the consequence of its power.  
There is no simple answer. Some relationships are worth it and some are not, but the fundamental question is do you think love is worth it? You need to accept that it carry a potential for greatness as well as for tragedy. It's no magic. My world was never shattered because I realized there is a cause and effect. I'm okay with that and as far as I can tell it feels just as great and meaningful. I chose to embrace it and I know that worst come to worst I will have some very fond memories."

Miranda said bluntly, "What if I hurt you?"

"It's a risk I'm willing to take. Most people who actually make an effort to be with me have an agenda. As ironic as that might sound you don't, nor did you fall in love in any idealized image of me. This in itself is worth a great deal. We both don't have any guarantees, but I want our relationship to work and will do my part, and if we ever break up... I said I'll always want you in my life and I meant it. I know things may get messy, but if it comes to that I trust you won't do anything that would make me regret wanting that."

Miranda sighed and looked down on the floor, "Before I met you John, being alone made things so much simpler."

He dreaded the question, and despite the appalling feeling inside he asked either way, "Are you having second thoughts?"

Miranda's head jerked up, "No I do not. I'm happier than ever before, but the atmosphere feels too good to be true." She complained exasperated, "I'm not some naive love crazed teenager!"

"I've never thought you were," Shepard said evenly before he grinned and tried to lighten the mood a bit, "You are a love crazed 30-something."

Miranda chuckled humorlessly and shook her head, "Shut up John."

Shepard continued seriously, "Look. Every relationship has its pitfalls okay? Every relationship can fail, but there are those that don't fail. If everyone went around thinking that the relationship they're in is doomed from the get-go, then there wouldn't be many couples around. It's a leap of faith we all take to see what's around the corner."

Miranda closed her eyes and leaned back into the couch and sighed again, "Maybe we've...maybe everything's gone to fast these past days? Maybe the time we spent apart was too much and we idealize our relationship and each other now?"

He admitted, "Maybe you are right, maybe we do and we haven't noticed it. But the fact is I've never felt like this for any other woman before." He continued firmly, "Do you fathom how much impact you've had on my life, and not just because you brought me back to life?"

"As much as you had on my life?"

"Possibly." Shepard chuckled humorlessly, "It's mind-boggling to think how many times I fought against Cerberus and then I found... you. One day I'm shooting them and the other I fall for one of their senior operatives. Talk about strange bedfellows."

Miranda faintly smiled, "That's something to reflect upon I guess."

Shepard leaned closer, "Maybe something is wrong with our relationship. But if that's the case I intend to work on it. Do you?"

"I'm not dismissing us! But too much is at stake for you to promise my sappy things like you'll do anything for me! Would you sacrifice thousands of lives for me?" Miranda argued.

Shepard watched the dismayed woman in front of him. He sat silent for a few moments, carefully sorting out what he would say.

Finally Shepard spoke, "The truth is when people say such things, whether they realize it or not, there are plenty of conditions and amendments that state scenarios in which that would not be so. It does not mean that it's any less meaningful." Shepard paused so he could gather his thoughts before continuing, "But would I sacrifice 1000, 10 000 or even 100 000 people for you?"

Shepard shrugged, "I don't know. The problem with those hypotheticals is that we will never face them. Things are never that clean cut and we will only deal in probability and that's a lot different." Shepard said softly, "And thank God, because I don't think I could recover if it involved you."

"What about Lieutenant Alenko? Did you sacrifice him for Williams' sake?" Miranda asked conflicted.

Shepard shook his head, "It was a tactical decision, and I still regret to this day to have left a friend behind. But I couldn't take Kirrahe's words - that the nuke couldn't be tampered with - on face value. I couldn't chance it. Ashley was placed with the nuke and the geth was swarming the site, and God knows what kind of technology they had considering they were the pawns of Sovereign. I needed to secure the weapon."

Shepard continued, "Such invented scenarios are what are meaningless, because those who presents them wants to refute the constraints of our reality and all the ambiguity that comes with it. They don't seem to be able to accept the simple fact that despite that a diamond is worth far more than a grain of sand, it's not worth an infinite amount of sand. Anything you can put a quantifier on suddenly becomes meaningless and trivial. Our galaxy is exactly what it is, but the fact is that the underlying reality is different; that no value is absolute and that seems to change everything for some people. Despite that their own actions seem to contradict their philosophy."

Shepard leaned back into the armchair and looked at Miranda as she was contemplating his words. Finally he took a deep breath and said, "What about Oriana? How far would you go to protect her?"

"That's not the same!" Miranda countered.

"How come?"

"We're...family." Miranda said carefully.

Shepard gestured, "See, your logic falls flat right there. If your hand was forced you'd do anything to protect Oriana. And I would do the same to protect you. It's human nature to protect those we love."

Miranda hadn't realized how much she would do to protect John because she had never been put in that position where she needed to that. She did protect Oriana for almost two decades and Oriana was always defenseless. She glanced over at John, he on the other hand, even in the worse situation, could make the best of it. He was trained in some of the hardest military schools available. Regular marine boot camp was no trivial matter, but the Interplanetary Combatives Training program was something entirely different. John Shepard excelled in combat.

Miranda sighed and argued, "But we can't cross those lines for love and romance. At some point it becomes disgusting."

It wasn't an accusation against him. She knew he didn't want to patronize her and John was a moral man, but some people thought it was understandable or even commendable to do anything and everything in the name of love even to the point of most vicious crime.

"Love trumps a lot, but it doesn't trump all and only a reprehensible man could think that it does knowing full well what that implies. And in the end I wouldn't let the galaxy burn for you, but when push comes to shove I would let a lot of things burn. I've made a lot of sacrifices in my life trying to save people I will never know, and I will always try to do the right thing, I'm a marine and have sworn the oath of service. I think it's about time I'm a selfish for myself. I'm not a slave to the greater good and I don't feel that me giving up everything I hold dear, betraying the people I want to protect the most for strangers that made no such sacrifices, is in no way fair."

Shepard said firmly, "And If it ever happens that I've to chose between a faceless crowd and the most important person in my life," Shepard paused and said softly, "my Miranda, then so be it. It's not going to be easy, but it's easier than letting go of you."

Shepard sighed, it was a very emotional subject for him and difficult to think about or even say, but he pushed himself, "And if you would die on a mission, it would just happen and it would have nothing to do with a breathtaking decision. I'll be heartbroken. But the truth is only in hindsight will there have been things I could have done differently."

Miranda pursed her lips, "Why is it that you seem to be the rational one, John? You are supposed to be the sappy and romantic one."

Shepard chuckled, "I don't know about that, I think I'm closer to rational-romantic."

Miranda murmured, "I told Oriana earlier today that you are mine, it somehow seems a bit unrealistic, and we're in a war that could possibly end everything we know. I can't really embrace the Cinderella fantasy."

"Damn all those old stupid classics and the over-the-top expectations they've created for us," Shepard said deadpanned.

Miranda chuckled, "I agree, they exercise too much pressure on us."

Shepard continued evenly, "I think you are putting too much pressure on yourself for some reason and maybe even forcing the feeling. We're two different individuals that rely on each other for mutual support, we're a team. We're also two independent persons and could make it on our own, but we both decided to be a team."

Miranda looked up and with a warm smile for the first time in a while, "Yes, we're a team. A good one at that."

Shepard smiled back, "And we're going to stop the Reapers as a team. I'm not going to compromise the mission or sacrifice the galaxy for one person. I'll go far to protect other people, but I'm also not going to give away what I hold close without a fight."

Miranda nodded slowly and let out a breath, "Okay."

Inwardly Shepard sighed in relief. But he was still upset about Miranda's earlier comments; that his affection had somehow been perceived as a lie. But feeling that he had managed to deescalate the situation, and coupled with some weariness, he didn't want restart everything again. Not without a break so they could let their emotions simmer down. He wasn't keen on letting her get away with blaming him for something like that, but it was...a tactical decision to take that conversation a later. For now, he would let it be for a short while. Plus he needed a glass of water or two after all that talking. And time alone with his thoughts.

Shepard said evenly, "Look I need some time to sort this out. Take my mind of things. I think we both need that."

"Yes of course, I agree," Miranda said somber. "I could need that to."

"Are we better? Sorted things out?"

Miranda nodded, "Yes...I think so at least. We should talk later though."

Shepard nodded but couldn't help to tease with a grin, "And we've fought, we need to have some make up sex as well."

"What?" Miranda asked incredulously.

Shepard shrugged and said deadpanned, "It's only natural Ms. Lawson. It comes with the territory. And you know, it's not the first time either."

"You ass!" Miranda said mock-seriously.

Shepard smirked mischievous as he rose from the armchair disappeared from the lounge.

Miranda shook her head slowly at his antics and heard as he left their quarters and the door closed behind him

She couldn't be honest with herself and say that she was certain that she wouldn't regret warning John about the lengths he might go to save her if it came to the worst. As strong as she was, and even if she happened to have said once that she was never wrong, the truth was certainly not a luxury people didn't have. It would be easy to make those choices on impulse, or simply remove from what it really evoked, but too much was at stake and it was what a moral human being would say, and only someone despicable could put the their selfish feelings in front of the galaxy like that.

She wasn't that sure about herself either, but she was afraid that a man from whom so much depended on might lose his principles and lose sight of what was really important, the greater good, because of his feelings to her. Wouldn't mere danger to her make him lose his mind? Could he just watch while she perished, and continue doing what needed to be done?

But he was right. It wouldn't be like in the movies. There would probably never be this great decision when he chooses the galaxy over her. But how could he be so sure?

John was strong and she trusted he would do what was right, but when he talked like that about protecting her she wasn't so sure anymore. He seemed to be talking about keeping some perfect balance. However it was impossible for him not to be influenced at all. What if those small, seemingly meaningless changes he made for his peace of mind to protect her, even on an unconscious level, finally lead to disaster?

But ultimately it was pointless to hinge on such 'what if's', the only thing it could achieve was drive her mad. It were the same 'what if's', remote possibilities, that had kept her from contacting Oriana all those years. And John sliced through all of them like a knife when he told her after rescuing Oriana, 'out of all the people that are protecting her, do you really think you are the weakest link?'.

Miranda wasn't going to give up things that made her happy because of some bloody invented scenario. She would fight tooth and nail to keep the most important persons in her life.

* * *

Udina had been working non-stop for days trying to persuade the council to act faster, to actually rally together and move on the Reapers. The asari and the salarians had still not sent scientists to assist with the Crucible, they were still on the defensive trying to keep their resources tied down for their own needs rather to aid the greater good for everyone. And the stress of it all was slowly showing physically on Udina; he had bags under his eyes from lack of sleep, his face appeared more gaunt than usual. His heart rate had quickened, his anxiety had sped up his metabolism and he hadn't shaved in a while.

As the only representative left from the Alliance parliament, Udina had grown tired of the stalling from the Council. The coalition between the species was at a standstill and the Reapers were still slaughtering people on Earth. The Alliance was in no position to counter-attack the Reapers on Earth, and Shepard still hadn't secured turian aid. It seemed like the only ones taking any steps to preserve humanity was the human supremacist group Cerberus, the former Alliance black operations group had been around for decades and certainly was powerful, maybe they were the only ones that could actually do something for Earth. Udina noted that it had worked for Shepard the year before. When human colonies were attacked in its inhabitants taken, neither the Alliance nor the Council had done anything about the disappearances, but Cerberus and Shepard definitely had. Taking on the Collectors and stopping their culling of humans was no mean feat that's for sure. During hard times certain boundaries were needed to be crossed, and if that meant to ally himself with Cerberus to remove the Council and direct help for Earth, so be it. It had dragged on far too long now.

For Udina it wasn't an ideal plan to form an alliance with Cerberus, but it was the only option he had. They were strong enough to counter the Alliance, and probably willing to remove the council from power to save Earth. They had always asserted themselves to protect humanity, even when they were part of the Alliance. The Council wasn't doing enough for Earth so it was a possibility that Cerberus would be willing to help him seize power. To Udina, and likely the Illusive Man as well, this was a mutually beneficial alliance, but Cerberus' actions to try and sabotage victory was a source of concern for Udiana. And if the Alliance Intelligence reports on Cerberus' appalling experiments were true, the human supremacist organization was indeed not afraid to get their hands dirty. But it was a necessary evil for his own agenda to use Cerberus, and when he was done with them he could always direct Alliance resources to fight them again.

_The enemy of my enemy is my friend._

_Well, at least there were common grounds for an alliance._

Getting in contact with people with ties to Cerberus had been a difficult task. But with over 20 years in politics, Udina had a lot of contacts across the galaxy. And that the organization once had been an Alliance clandestine group helped immensely, they were still several people within the Alliance that worked for Cerberus, although with the current war that number had dwindled considerably as the Alliance was rooting out any Cerberus supporters they stumbled upon. Some had tried to leave discreetly and some had even been successful, but when someone just leaves the Alliance during a crackdown it will raise a few eyebrows.

Rear Admiral Mikhailovich was one of those that had left the Alliance when they began their cleansing. He had always had problems with the Council, especially when they 'stole' the SSV Normandy SR-1 three years earlier from him which had only angered him further. What the man had been up to since quickly departing the Alliance, Udina didn't know. But it was now certain that he did the bidding for Cerberus. And that could be used. Mikhailovich had a new identity, acting as Robert Weaver, a midlevel executive of Rosenkov Industries, Udina and 'Weaver' was about to discuss new weapon deliveries for the Alliance. But in reality they were to have other more clandestine talks. It was easier now than ever to slip into the political heart of the Citadel with the war going on and all the refugees across the station. C-SEC was spread too thin to handle everything. And with a political pass, 'Weaver' could just wave it in front of guards and they would let him pass without a question. And apparently Cerberus had contacts in C-Sec which made it even easier for 'Weaver' to pass through.

It had certainly taken sometime for arrange this, Udina needed to be careful, but eventually his contacts had gotten back to him and apparently the Illusive Man believed in Udina and saw a beneficial partnership for Earth's sake. Udina was certain this was also a test; he figured the Illusive Man was a smart individual, and could suspect Udina was part of a setup from the Alliance's side. Udina needed to prove his real intentions.

Udina was seated behind his desk and nervously looked at the clock on his table. It had struck noon and 'Weaver' was expected any minute now.

His secretary emerged from her own room and informed, "Councilor, Mr. Weaver is here."

"Good." Udina said with a fake smile. "You can go on your lunch now."

"Thank you sir." The secretary responded gratefully and rushed to the door and opened it and an elderly man with a full facial beard dressed in a black business suit entered the office as the asari quickly left.

Udina quickly began typing on his computer and initiated a specific program that would scramble all recording devices present in his office; it was customary to have such devices in a Councilor's office for security reasons. The program itself would jam the devices and make it look like a systems failure. For all intents and purposes, this meeting would never happen. It was a program he had received on OSD a few days earlier. Cerberus certainly was a very careful organization.

"Councilor." 'Weaver' greeted and walked over to Udina.

"Mikhail-"

'Weaver' brought up his hands and interrupted Udina evenly, "Please, let's not use that name here. I assume the program is initiated."

"As you wish," Udina said carefully before he reassured, "Yes, everything is in order."

'Weaver' nodded and sat down on the chair in front of Udina. "This is very simple; my employer is interested in this venture of yours. But he is careful."

"I'm surprised you accepted this meeting."

"Orders." 'Weaver' merely explained.

"Of course. Are we speaking frankly here?"

'Weaver' nodded.

"Right then, I feel that all this stalling by the races have gone on for far too long. Something needs to be done, and I don't think the Council, the Alliance and certainly not Shepard are capable of doing anything for Earth. This business with the krogan proves this."

"I personally agree on that, the Council has never cared for Earth or humanity. And the Alliance can't do anything substantial."

Udiana was in agreement, "Precisely. What we need is to remove the Council from the seat of power. I believe that the operations I have read about which Cerberus has carried out, as well as its political and financial contacts, is exactly what is needed for this to work. It will help us both. Only when the Council has been removed can we effectively help Earth."

'Weaver' nodded, "It's not just taking over the Citadel from the inside; various other parts need to work for this operation to be carried out efficiently. C-SEC is not a matter of concern."

"Of course."

"But we won't do anything until we have some reassurances. Shepard is still a problem and he's got the ears of the Alliance, and to some extent the Council."

"He's got a lot of powerful friends." Udina agreed,

"Yes, but even with his past associations, the Council is still not entirely sold on him."

"Correct." Udina agreed.

Udina had felt humiliated after he had been proven wrong about the Reapers; it had been the right decision at the time to question Shepard's claims. The Commander had been pushing his agenda in the past while they had no proof of them coming. Vigil had shut down and what other proof was there? None! And with all the good will Shepard had accumulated after defeating Saren it was nigh impossible for the Council and the Alliance to quiet him down. By sending him out in the Traverse after geth it did get him out of the spotlight.

"We need to make him look bad in the eyes of the Council. The Alliance won't listen as Hackett is in charge and he trusts the Commander. There aren't enough naysayers left for us to be successful."

"I see you have an idea."

'Weaver' nodded, "We have. The Council is more susceptible to something like this. When you have done what we ask of you, we will be in touch. We have a few other strings to pull also, but let us worry about other aspects of this operation. You just focus on the Council."

"And how do you propose to do that?" Udina asked.

"Easy, draw attention to his past association with Cerberus, the Council doesn't like that. His actions regarding Bahak are another matter of concern for them, but at the moment we're unsure how much that will matter. Shepard had an immaculate record till a few years ago. Eden Prime was the stepping stone to the height of his career but also the beginning of his downfall. He used his SPECTRE authority to enlist unproven aliens to carry out top secret missions. His warnings about the Reapers earned him a reputation as insane in some circles."

Weaver paused for a moment before continued, "He always stood up to the Council, but when he joined Cerberus he went overboard. To many people it was clear that all the values Shepard seemed to project was only a facade. Through Shepard's actions the Council saw humanity as a wild card and started contemplating if they didn't make a mistake in allowing for the lightning fast progress. So they gave him his "honorary" SPECTRE status to appease the Alliance, and if Shepard pulled any more stunts they would disown him and discredit humanity."

"He can be seen as a liability to some for his actions," Udina said. "And he is not very diplomatic in the Council's eyes. He had some clashes with their predecessors."

"Yes, and despite being right about the Reapers, Shepard remains a controversial figure. All we need is the right narrative and Shepard will lose a lot of his support."

Udina asked, "And this is that narrative?"

"Indeed. Shepard might be a saint, but even believing in his best intentions most people don't have the stomach accept some of the things he has done. And have I mentioned that he is currently romantically involved with one of our former operatives?"

A scowl formed in Udina's face as he was surprised to hear that revelation, "Huh?"

"Yes, not very many know about this at all. Her name is Miranda Lawson, before she defected from Cerberus last year she was one of the most trusted operatives of the Illusive Man. She's currently on the Normandy. With Shepard."

'Weaver' reached into his suite and pulled out an OSD disc and placed it on the table in front of Udina.

"I see." Udina said and pondered it all.

'Weaver' rose from the chair, "It will certainly make some heads turn. Everything is provided on that disc. I'll see myself out." Weaver promptly left the Ambassador's office.

Udina glanced at the OSD in front of him. He certainly agreed that Shepard could be a nuisance if he intervened. Successfully smearing his reputation would drive a wedge between him and the Council long enough for the coup to take place uninterrupted. The relationship between the new Council and Shepard was a bumpy one at best, as it had been with the old one; this was something he could use against both parties. Who would suspect him of anything when he is only doing what the higher ups had done to Shepard many times before? And for the sake of appearance, if they could believe the smear, why couldn't he?

Even one of Shepard's closest friends, Lieutenant Williams, soon-to-be Council SPECTRE wasn't sure about him. Of course that was one of the reasons he promoted her. He owned her. She was so blind in trying to redeem her family's name that she didn't see she was put up against Shepard. When the dust had settled he would come out and rush to defend the first human SPECTRE, lamenting how he was mislead and saying he always deep down believed in his innocence, but fell victim to a vicious campaign. Udina would see to that evidence would surface suggesting that one of the members of the to-be dead Council was indoctrinated and tried to destroy Shepard and it just so happened that Councilor Irissa, who was very isolationistic, had discredited the move to aid the other races, thus she wanted to limit asari involvement and instead focus on the defense of the asari worlds. The slandering would only be a temporary setback for Shepard's efforts and he should understand better than anybody what it meant to fight against the current.

If Shepard couldn't be of use, Udina had Williams. He remembered the rumors that flourished after Saren's attack; that indeed an Alliance officer, Shepard, had become involved with then Gunnery Chief Williams. It went against Alliance regulations; romantic fraternization with those under your command was a punishable offense, but considering the good-will Shepard had garnered, Alliance Command ignored it. But more importantly, did Williams know of the Cerberus woman, and could that be exploited?

Udina pondered the revelation that Shepard was involved with a former Cerberus operative. Curious behavior indeed. But more importantly it perhaps was a blessing in disguise. Losing a high level operative to Shepard must have been a very humiliating experience for Cerberus and the Illusive Man personally. It could be an indication that the Illusive Man was not good at selecting people who can be trusted. It was possible those working for Cerberus were fickle in their allegiances and thus easier to turn. Maybe Udina could turn others in Cerberus against the Illusive Man and thus be able to weaken Cerberus after taking control over the Council.

But ally himself with Cerberus was needed as the Council failed to act. They hadn't done enough in the past and Shepard had instead opted to work with Cerberus. If Shepard could do it to save humanity from the Collectors, why couldn't Udina work with Cerberus to save Earth? And if his efforts were uncovered and he was to fall to save Earth then so be it. History would vindicate him as the one that took bold a stand against everything to save humanity and to take down Cerberus once and for all. The man doing what must be done for the greater good when others failed.

_Desperate times called for desperate measures._

* * *

_**Yeah, not everything can be cute and fluffy in a relationship. And with a character as Miranda there's room for some doubts and other things which can surface. Which can be interesting for the story.**_

_**Considering Udina, I thought it would be more interesting if his actions involved desperation rather than indoctrination.**_

_**Quotes: Chuck (episodes; Chuck versus the Balcony, Chuck versus Phase Three [combined two different lines]), Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl (with a slight change).**_

_**Another Chuck reference! **_

_**Regarding Javik: I've received messages from readers asking if the character will be included or not. I never played the DLC. And as I may actually buy the DLC in the future to play it (that would be unrelated to the story writing process) I made a conscious decision not to watch any footage with Javik. But I gather the character has a following. I guess it would not be too late to bring him onboard, but I've not made a decision yet. I won't make any promises, but we'll see what happens after Tuchanka.**_

_**Assistance and several ideas with the relationship issue and the Udina-scene from xXserialkillerXx.**_

_**Edited 2013-01-25: Some minor changes.  
**_

_**Edited 2013-01-27: Some additions to the Mordin conversation as well as the Ori/Miri chat. Ideas by xXSerialkillerXx while others were expansions by me based on those ideas.**_

_****__**Edited 2013-06-03: Some additions to Miranda's thoughts during the disagreement, **__**Ideas by xXSerialkillerXx**_.  



	29. Molon Labe

Three turian Kodiak shuttles flew low over the Tuchanka wastelands. The sun was setting and darkness would soon blanket that part of the world. Dotting the landscape was the ruins after the nuclear war that had ravaged the planet. The once lush planet had been a radioactive cesspit for a long time.

Inside the lead shuttle sat Lieutenant Tarquin Victus in his bulky red and black armor. With him in the cramped passenger compartment was another eleven turian soldiers in bulky armors and armed with a wide assortment of weaponry. The two other Kodiak's carried the same complement of soldiers, 12 per shuttle. The soldiers were part of 9th Platoon from B Company, 3rd Battalion of the famed 12th Barritus Regiment. It was a battle hardened regiment, known for carrying out high-risk operations across the Traverse and the Terminus systems. But for Lieutenant Victus, this was the first time he would be leading troops into a combat, despite being a four year veteran in the service.

For the umpteenth time Tarquin quickly checked his pouches for ammo, he checked that his armor straps was properly fastened and that his weapons was operational. A quick systems diagnostic check with his omni-tool verified once again that the radio was working. The transmitter was also functional, beaming out his location to the CIC on the cruiser _Valēns_ which tracked the platoon. A mere ten minutes earlier the shuttles had left _Valēns_, which was part of the _Ferrata_ carrier group, and Tarquin had prayed to the spirits for inspiration and guidance. Tarquin found his leadership skills being tested and hoped to reconnect with the pride of the Regiment. The responsibility of his men spread across the three shuttles weighed heavily on the Lieutenant's shoulders. 36 men that were under his command. Their lives were in his hands.

In his earpiece Tarquin heard the voice of the co-pilot, "Lieutenant, scanners indicate a large number of Reaper forces ahead of us."

Tarquin rose up from the seat and took a few steps into the cockpit and faced the co-pilot who was studying one of his monitors. Tarquin asked, "Your assessment?"

The co-pilot turned in his seat to face Tarquin, "If we go through there we're in big trouble."

Behind Tarquin, Sergeant Iduma walked up. Iduma was Tarquin's senior non-commissioned officer who was to assist him leading the platoon.

Iduma chimed in, "If we don't go that way Lieutenant, we could lose valuable time. If we go any other way we will have to fly through the city ruins and its little room for error there. The enemy presence blocking our flight path is negligible threat."

Tarquin nodded but didn't turn to face his platoon sergeant. Instead he glanced at the co-pilot's interface. The onboard sensors showed enemy contacts on a topographical map. If the three shuttles skidded around the enemy formations through the ruined city to the west they would likely not bump into the Reapers. Flying low through the ruins would conceal their presence from any Reaper sensors. But they would be vulnerable if detected. But on the other hand, the sensors showed no enemy activity in that area, it would take longer to fly through, but they wouldn't fly into the enemy.

_If we only had the Alliance's new and stealthier shuttles we could continue on_, Tarquin lamented.

Tarquin turned to the pilot, "Take the west route through the city ruins instead. Maintain altitude and dispersion from the other shuttles."

"Copy that sir." The pilot responded and contacted the two other shuttles on the radio.

"Lieutenant...!" Iduma began to protest but was silenced as Tarquin raised his hand.

"It's the safest route Sergeant." Tarquin asserted as he brushed past Iduma and returned to his seat.

"Roger that Lieutenant." Iduma mumbled under his breath before he returned to his own seat.

The shuttle banked to the left and headed for the ruined city a few kilometers to the west. Entering low through the city, the three shuttles navigated the treacherous ruins. With little room to maneuver the pilots relied heavily on the advanced terrain following radars so they wouldn't crash into a building or the ground.

They had barely traversed half the city when something went wrong. Frantic calls for help were heard over the radio net.

_"We're under attack!" _

_"Take it out!"_

The tension rose in the cramped passenger compartment as the squad didn't know what was happening to their fellow soldiers in the other shuttles. They were unable to help their friends.

Tarquin quickly stepped away from his seat and rushed over to the shuttle door and pressed a button on the interface so the door slid open. He held on to the wall handle near the opening and leaned out. His heart sank at the sight behind them and he felt a stab of despair.

Right behind his shuttle, one of the trailing shuttles had come under attack by a synthetic-organic Harvester. The creature had latched onto the side of the shuttle with his powerful legs and was firing its two head-mounted cannons into the passenger compartment and the engine bay. The rounds ripped through the armor plating of the shuttle, damaging the engine and killing or severely injuring its occupants. Soon the shuttle lost control and plummeted towards the ground as the Harvester let go of the Kodiak and flew away.

The third shuttle pulled down lower as it was chased by another Harvester, firing its heavy cannons at the back of the shuttle where the engine was located. Bullets were hitting and rocking the shuttle and black smoke erupted from the engine bay. The confined ruins made it impossible for the pilot to outmaneuver the Harvester and the pilot flew to fast and to low and were unable to pull up and struck the ground and flipped over on its side.

Tarquin shouted to the pilot, "Get us out of here!"

The pilot shouted back, "On it!" The pilot steered the shuttle past several collapsed tall buildings.

Tarquin stepped away from the opening and was about to close it shut with the press of a button when the shuttle suddenly jolted violently. Tarquin fell down on the floor and his squad was violently thrown around the small compartment. High-pitched warning sounds was heard and the two pilots frantically struggled with the controls to keep the shuttle steady but they were losing control fast. The Harvester that had attacked the first shuttle had latched on to theirs and as the shuttle door was still open it managed to shove parts of its head into the passenger compartment.

The men inside reached for their rifles and opened fire at the creature which wasn't easily done as the shuttle was bouncing around, falling to the ground. The Harvester opened up with its dual mounted cannons, killing several of the soldiers inside as their bodies were ripped apart. Just then, the shuttle crashed into the side of a ruined building with a loud sound of metal and concrete breaking. The Harvester let go of the shuttle as it slid down into a courtyard surrounded by ruins, it slammed into a wall in a massive cloud of dust and smoke.

* * *

Onboard the cruiser _Valēns_, the shocked command staff and the officer-in-charge had listened into the horrific radio communication as the three shuttles had been taken out. A sickening feeling spread amongst the staff as reality hit them, not only had they lost a high number of men, but they realized that the turian military's first mission on Tuchanka had abruptly ended in tragedy. The only inductions of life they had were the signals being beamed from the soldier's tracking devices that were installed into their hard suits.

The officer-in-charge quickly headed for the communications room and contacted Admiral Viator, the commanding officer of the _Ferrata _carrier group, and informed him of the events. The Admiral ordered his CAG to send out a UCAV to recon the area, but with all the ruins in the area, it was soon discovered that it was almost impossible to get any visual sightings of the three separate crash sites within the city ruins.

The operations center onboard the _Valēns_ had after half an hour managed to raise Lieutenant Tarquin on the radio. Despite static they were informed by Tarquin that the 9th Platoon had sustained several killed and wounded, including the pilots of at least two shuttles and Tarquin's crash site was under attack by Reaper ground forces. The two other crash sites hadn't fared any better either and was under attack as well according to Tarquin. The new information was quickly relayed to the _Ferrata_. Viator's own command staff was putting together a plan to rescue the besieged forces on Tuchanka.

Viator now faced the unpleasant task of informing Primarch Victus of the outcome of the mission. And also informing that his son was now engaged in a fierce battle against Reaper creatures. The mission that had been handed down from the Primarch himself had failed and the men on the ground were in dire need of help

Not bothering with the policy about not sending classified information over insecure channels, Viator quickly composed a flash message to Primarch Victus onboard the human vessel Normandy.

* * *

Adjusting to human time was going slow for Primarch Victus. Apparently Garrus had some problems in the beginning as well, but had now adjusted to the 24 hour time that was mandated on human ships. Although the younger turian had served with Shepard two times earlier so he indeed had the upper hand over Victus. While the Primarch was stationed on the Normandy he had taken up residence on the engineering deck and specifically the Port Cargo Area, which ironically had been issued to a krogan during the Collector mission.

Victus was trying to fall asleep. But he was anxious about the mission that was carried out that evening. The mission his son presided over and Victus hoped that Tarquin would be able to execute it. Intelligence gathered recently indicated that Cerberus had somehow found out about the massive bomb which his people had buried on Tuchanka after the Krogan Rebellions. The bomb had been buried in the Kelphic Valley and was meant as a last resort in case the krogan attempted another rebellion. But now...if used it would not only kill a substantial part of the krogan populace, but the ramifications for the alliance between his people and the krogan that Shepard was trying to build, if it detonated was something Victus didn't even want to contemplate. The success of the war could very well be in the hands of his son, and it was because of that he needed someone he trusted to lead the mission.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a soft sound coming from his omni-tool. Victus sat up in the cot and tapped a button. It was a flash message from Admiral Viator onboard the _Ferrata_. He found it strange, the mission wasn't supposed to end in several hours from now. Why did the Admiral send him-

A sudden pang of fear struck Victus as he quickly gathered that something had gone terribly wrong and he quickly opened the message:

_**To: Adrien Victus**_

_**From: Harpax Viator**_

_**Subject: Mission parameter changed**_

_Primarch, Operation CELESTIAL BALANCE has suffered heavy casualties. While enroute to mission objective, the mission force encountered enemy resistance and was shot down 40 minutes ago. Mission objective failed. We have established contact with our forces stranded on the ground; LIEUTENANT VICTUS reports several casualties and heavy enemy resistance. We're scrambling to launch a rescue operation._

_**Admiral Harpax Viator, Turian Navy**_

_**Commanding Officer Ferrata Carrier Strike Group**_

_Spirits!_

Victus' mind was racing to process the information. He feared for his son's life but quickly pushed those thoughts aside and focused on the mission. The turians adhered to the moral code that the needs of the group outweighed that of the individual. There were more people than just his son that were fighting against the Reapers on Tuchanka. The mission hadn't been accomplished either. There were other aspects that needed to be taken care of, and Tarquin was only a small part in a larger machinery.

But the men needed to be rescued. The mission needed to be accomplished. But if the fleet sent more shuttles with more men they could suddenly face more casualties. And the turian Navy had yet purchased the newer stealthier shuttles the Alliance had in their inventory.

The same shuttles that were in the cargo bay below him.

_Shepard!_

Victus quickly wrote a message back to the Admiral telling him not to launch any rescue forces before he heard from Victus. The Primarch shut down his omni-tool and called out for the ship's AI, "EDI. Is the Commander available?"

_"Yes Primarch Victus. He's presently located on the crew deck."_

Victus quickly slid of the cot and grabbed his uniform which was draped on a chair nearby, "Could you send him down here. It's of outmost importance."

_"I will inform Shepard."_

* * *

Shepard exited the elevator on the engineering deck a few minutes later and headed for the Port Cargo Area. Shepard had spent the evening sorting things out after Miranda's and his conversation earlier and had been on his way to their quarters but took a detour when Primarch Victus had called for him.

Shepard knocked on the door and waited patiently before it slid open as Victus opened the door from the inside.

Victus greeted and gestured for him to step inside, "Commander."

"EDI said you needed to talk to me. Something important?"

Shepard walked into the room and the door closed behind him.

Victus nodded and said despondent, "Yes. Three shuttles were shot down no less than 40 minutes ago. They crashed in some krogan ruins. And now they're taking heavy fire from Reaper ground forces."

"Shot down? What were they doing there in the first place?" Shepard inquired curiously.

"I'm sorry Commander, that's classified."

Shepard sighed inwardly; _everything's seems classified with the turians nowadays._

Shepard asked, "And what do you want me to do?" _Although I can already take a guess why I was summoned._

"It's vital that they're rescued. They have to complete their original mission. It's a matter of...galactic peace. If we send more shuttles they might be shot down, but as the Normandy have your new stealthier shuttles...you could fly in almost undetected and rescue the soldiers."

Shepard contemplated the man's request. He himself knew of the mantra _'leave no man behind'_. And colleagues of his was now stranded and pinned down by Reaper forces. But he was still curious what they were doing there in the first place.

After some thinking Shepard nodded "I'll see what I can do. But I want any and all intelligence your people have on the crash zone and enemy compositions."

"Of course Commander." Victus said and continued thankfully, "I appreciate your help...and understanding."

"So how many soldiers are we talking about?"

"A platoon of 36 plus two pilots per shuttle. We're not sure about the actual numbers of casualties at the moment, but there are at least 12 we know off."

Shepard pressed on about the turian mission, "You said their mission was a matter of galactic peace. Why?"

"I'm sorry Commander. As I said, it's highly classified."

Shepard sighed annoyed, "If I'm going to risk the life of my team and myself to save your troops, I rather not go in blind?"

Victus shoulders slumped and he said dejected, "I can't tell you. Please understand. I assure you. I will forward you all the relevant information."

"As long as we don't go in blind Primarch."

"The commander of the platoon is Lieutenant Tarquin Victus, he'll be your contact."

"Victus...?" Shepard asked surprised about the name.

The Primarch nodded, "Yes. He's my son. I needed someone I could trust completely with the mission."

Now Shepard understood why the man wanted his help with the matter. And if he managed to save the Primarch's son maybe the Primarch would be more forthcoming.

Shepard nodded, "I'll get on it Primarch. See to that your people send everything they can to the War Room, I'll brief my team."

"I will Commander. Thank you." Victus said appreciatively and activated his omni-tool and began typing.

* * *

A few minutes later, Shepard was in the War Room waiting for his team to arrive. He glanced at the topographical map that was being projected on the circular table in front of him. The turians had been very forthcoming; crash coordinates and the soldier's beacon locators had been forwarded and were shown on the map. They had also compiled a threat assessment file and probable enemy types present within the area of operations.

After a few minutes his team was assembled around the table with Shepard in front. The team was curious why they had been summoned at this late hour.

"Alright," Shepard said and gazed on them, "I was hastily informed by the Primarch not long ago that three turian shuttles carrying a platoon of 36 have been shot down in a ruined city. He's asking for our help as the Normandy is carrying stealth shuttles."

"Shot down by what?" Zaeed asked.

"Reapers. Reports from the turians indicate a substantial number of Reaper ground forces located."

"What was their mission?" Liara asked.

Shepard shrugged, "I asked the same question, but Victus was not at liberty to speak. The information is classified"

Vega snorted, "Figures."

"Easy Vega," Shepard chided. "We were enlisted to carry out this mission so that is a sign of trust. The commander on the ground is his son, and if we succeed we are more likely to know the reason for turian presence there."

The team looked at Shepard and was as surprised as he'd been earlier when Victus told about his son.

Shepard continued unfazed by their surprised looks, "Lieutenant Tarquin Victus is the commanding officer over the 9th Platoon as they're called. Their mission apparently is a matter of galactic peace, so we can only speculate what's going on. Less than an hour ago they were shot down and this map shows the locator beacons and the three separate crash sites within the ruins."

Shepard drew their attention to the topographical map, "And the turians have assembled quite a brief for us, EDI forward all material to the team's omni-tools."

_"Yes Shepard."_

The omni-tools of the team let out soft tones as the briefing packets were forwarded.

"I want you to give the threat assessment files a look, but expect Reaper ground forces supported by Harvesters so we will need to go in with heavy weapons, so a couple of missile launchers are a must."

Miranda mused, "I think we better split up. To cover ground faster and clear the first two crash sites before we taken on the lone one." She'd been studying the layout for some time while she'd listened to Shepard's brief.

"Good idea." Shepard responded. He had been thinking along the same lines.

Garrus quipped deadpanned, "Yeah, we can do more damage that way."

Shepard continued, "Two teams then, I'll take Liara and Garrus and we'll go to crash site Alpha. Miranda you take crash site Bravo with the others."

Shepard pressed a few buttons on the interface and designated the two separate crash sites. He continued, "We'll approach the crash sites and insert from our Kodiak some distance away. We will clear the two first ones and rendezvous in this gorge halfway to the lone crash site, which according to the turians are the lead shuttle with Lieutenant Victus, and we'll proceed together to it. Everyone up to speed?"

The assembled team acknowledged.

Liara asked, "What about survivors, what do we do with them?"

"We assess the situation when we get there; we will give aid if they need it so carry extra medigel injectors." Shepard ordered, "Suit up and be ready to go in ten minutes."

* * *

The Kodiak cleared the atmosphere and the violent shaking ceased. Shepard and his team were seated in the passenger compartment in full armor, doing final checks and preparing themselves for combat as Cortez piloted the vehicle.

"Commander, I've been unable to reestablish communication with Lieutenant Victus," Cortez reported from the cockpit. "I think we've to get closer to the ruins."

"Okay. Keep trying." Shepard said from his seat.

"Drop point 1 is coming up. We've yet been discovered by the Reapers. You might get the jump on them."

"Understood."

Shepard and his squad had to trek through the ruins, probably a ten minute walk. Maybe even twenty minutes considering the terrain. And that was without taking the Reaper forces into consideration. Miranda's team would face the same obstacles.

Next to Shepard sat Garrus who shook his head afflicted, "For a turian commander, what happened here is...well, let's just say that the turian code is not forgiving."

"How come?" Shepard asked.

"It's the Primarch's own son and promoting family without merit is bad and it can come back and bite you in the ass." Garrus sighed, "What's interesting is that the Primarch knows this."

"30 seconds!" Cortez called out from the cockpit.

"Alright, let's save this platoon." Shepard said and rose from the seat. Liara and Garrus did the same and Shepard turned to face Miranda and her squad, "See you guys on the other side. Good luck."

"Good hunting." Miranda called back.

Shepard and his squad grabbed their weapons from their harnesses and walked up to the shuttle door so they could leave the shuttle quickly after landing. A few moments later everyone inside felt the shuttle surge as it took ground.

"We've touched down at the LZ," Cortez reported and he pressed a button so the shuttle doors opened.

"Move!" Shepard ordered and he ran out of the shuttle with Liara and Vega in tow. They quickly huddled down amongst some large slabs of concrete, setting up a defensive posture and sweeping the area for hostiles but saw none. Behind them the Kodiak's thrusters fired and the shuttle lifted off as it headed towards drop point 2 near crash site Bravo.

"Cortez, did you raise Lieutenant Victus?" Shepard asked.

_"Yeah, barely. There's a lot of static because of the ruins. Patching through, standby," _Cortez responded.

Shepard patiently waited a few moments and spoke, "This is Commander Shepard, Systems Alliance Navy. Do you read?"

A turian voice was heard through the static, _"Affirmative. This is Lieutenant Tarquin Victus of the 9th Platoon. We're pinned down by Reaper forces at grid section 28-38-12-19. We've taken heavy casualties."_

"Copy that Lieutenant. We're on our way. ETA unknown at this time. We're about one kilometer and a half from your crash site, over."

Tarquin was clearly discouraged by what Shepard had told him, _"Alright Commander. We'll hold our ground. Be advised, we've two other shuttle crashes in the area."_

Shepard responded "I'm aware of that Lieutenant; we've a second team heading for one of the crash sites. My team will secure the other one. After that we'll move to your position."

Tarquin called out in duress, _"Please hurry Commander, things get worse by the minute and my men are dying!" _After that Tarquin terminated the communications channel.

Shepard quickly checked his omni-tool and the mission computer which showed which direction he would lead the team to get to the first crash site. Ahead of them was a collapsed building, with crumbled concrete walls with steel rods, bars and mesh littering the path ahead, it was all part of a larger desolate and destroyed cityscape.

Garrus shook his head stricken by it all, "The situation is far worse then I feared."

"Yeah, we better hurry." Shepard said and led his squad further into the ruin.

"With you," Liara said.

In their earpieces they heard Cortez's voice, _"Commander, the second team is on the ground. I'm heading away from the ruins and will be in a holding pattern."_

"Copy that Cortez," Shepard responded.

The squad explored further into the ruins for a few minutes before Garrus cut the silence, "So...a turian secret mission on Tuchanka is especially odd isn't. Thoughts?"

Liara said the obvious from behind Garrus, "Likely connected to the _Ferrata's_ earlier presence in the system."

"Yeah," Shepard said, "but why are you asking us Garrus? You are the turian."

"I tried to pull some strings but didn't get anywhere. I was stonewalled." Garrus glanced back at Liara, "You didn't do any independent research into this Liara?"

Liara said discouraged, "All my sources only mentioned Reapers being present on Tuchanka, nothing about turians or why they would be interested in this place."

"All the secrecy surrounding all this is interesting." Garrus murmured to himself.

Shepard ordered, "Keep your head on a swivel. We haven't encountered any Reapers yet, but it's only a matter of time."

* * *

Almost a kilometer on the other side of the city, Miranda led Vega and Zaeed through the rubble. She gave her omni-tool and the map a quick glance, they were on course to crash site Bravo and it was under half a kilometer to it.

"So, eh the turians are up to no good then," Vega pondered to no one in particular.

Zaeed shrugged in the back of the squad, "Aren't they always?"

"And now they want us to bail them out without giving any details. I'm not surprised." Vega said bothered

"Politics, you've got ter get used ter that kid," Zaeed said bored.

Vega spat disgusted and argued, "No. Here's where politics pisses me off. The Primarch asks for our help but don't give the full picture? That's bull. And why wouldn't the krogan want to blow these Reapers the hell of their own planet?"

Miranda chimed in as she cleared another corner, "The animosity between the turians and the krogans is ancient, and maybe more importantly it's inborn and intense. It'll take something big for them to even consider cooperating. And it's pretty obvious Shepard wants them to cooperate in this war so he doesn't want to complicate things further."

"I'm a marine, not a diplomat," Vega complained, thankful that Shepard was dealing with everything else. But that didn't mean Vega was happy about the situation.

Miranda led the squad further into the ruins. Vega was walking behind Miranda and quipped, "So you are going to pop your cherry tonight, Miranda?"

Miranda stopped and turned to face the marine, she frowned and narrowed her eyes on him but behind the faceplate of her helmet Vega couldn't see her reaction.

Miranda hissed, "What?"

Vega stopped in his tracks and explained slightly flustered by her reaction, "I only mean, you've haven't fought Reaper creatures right? This will be your first time..."

_Bloody marine_, Miranda cursed.

"Keep the radio for mission critical information only." Miranda said unamused and turned around to lead her squad onwards.

Zaeed came up behind Vega and said sarcastically, "Looks like love at first sight ter me. Oh, she likes you, Vega!"

Vega turned around and said annoyed, "Fuck you limey."

Zaeed shook his head and merely laughed at Vega.

Miranda's squad continued through the ruined buildings and entered a small court yard littered by cinder blocks and metal and surrounded by collapsed buildings. In the distance somewhere past the court yard, behind some buildings, they heard the sounds of a fierce battle.

"We've got to hurry!" Miranda ordered and picked up the pace.

"On you!" Vega responded.

The squad rushed through the court yard, Miranda vaulted over a large slab of concrete and slid up to a wall near an entrance into a building and waited for Vega and Zaeed to join up. Once the two soldiers were with her she brought up her rifle and breached the room. The gunfire could be heard much clearer now and through the collapsed wall on the opposite side of the room Miranda saw flashes of gunfire outside.

The squad began moving through the room and they exited in the back of the building and entered another court yard. Further down the yard they saw Cannibals taking cover as they relentlessly attacked the turian crash site at the far end, the turians were separated from the Reapers by a wide gap in the ground, probably one reason they hadn't been overrun yet. The crashed shuttle could be seen buried in the side of a building and still burning, Miranda couldn't discern how many turians were alive.

"The Reapers haven't seen us, attack on my lead!" Miranda ordered and pressed on through the rubble.

Vega and Zaeed acknowledged as they followed her.

Miranda slid in behind a slab of concrete and leaned out of cover and took careful aim through her sight before she opened fire at a Cannibal in a few short controlled bursts and killed it.

Zaeed and Vega spread out amongst the walls and opened fire down range.

The flanking attack surprised the Reapers, but by the time they could return the fire against Miranda's squad, three Cannibals had fallen already.

Vega returned to the relative safety of his wall as the Cannibals fired fiercely in their direction. He quickly reloaded his Valkyrie-rifle and crouched down and turned around the opposite corner of the wall. The alley ran down the court yard but he could not see any enemies so he rose up and left the wall and sprinted forward until he reached the end of it. There he quickly leaned out to survey the situation, past the wall 10 meters ahead of him three Cannibals had ducked for cover as Miranda and Zaeed fired at them. Vega quickly grabbed a grenade from one of his pouches and tossed it towards the Cannibals and he ducked for cover. Seconds later the grenade detonated and the three Cannibals were killed by the fragmentations and the explosion.

Vega popped out of cover with his weapon at the ready and scanned in front of him. He had no targets in sight, the last of the Reapers were dead.

"Clear down!" Vega shouted.

"Copy!" Miranda called back.

Soon Vega was rejoined by Miranda and Zaeed.

At the far end of the court yard a turian rose from cover and shouted, "Thank you human!"

"Are you alright?" Miranda asked through her voice module as she walked closer. She stopped a few meters away from the gap in the ground, unsure how unstable the cliff was and she didn't' want to risk falling down the chasm.

Vega and Zaeed fanned out and provided cover.

"We'll manage." The turian soldier responded as he also walked closer.

Several other turians emerged from behind walls and slabs of concrete. Miranda did a quick headcount, to her dismay it appeared only five turians out of 14 was alive.

"Do you need aid?" Miranda asked.

The turian shook his head, "No, we'll head to the other crash site before pushing towards the lead shuttle."

"You don't need to do that," Miranda explained, "another team is heading for that crash site as we speak. My squad will rendezvous with them and push ahead to the lead shuttle as soon as possible."

"Understood, we will head to the lead shuttle instead. Hopefully we'll see you there."

The turian squad quickly reloaded their weapons and disappeared past the corner of one of the buildings.

Miranda radioed Shepard, "Commander, we've cleared crash site Bravo, five survivors that are heading towards the lead shuttle's crash site."

* * *

"Understood, good work. We're closing in on Alpha." Shepard responded. He had stopped at a corner with his rifle in hand and peered out of cover scanning the area in front of him.

_"We will head to the rendezvous point and wait for you there. Miranda out."_

Shepard left the wall and moved forward and vaulted over a slab of concrete with Liara and Garrus in tow. For the past several minutes they had heard the sound of gunfire increasing and they were getting closer now. Shepard led the others down a small path and stopped and hugged a wall. Shepard leaned out a bit and glanced down an intersection and he saw an intense battle unfolding some 50 meters ahead.

Shepard informed Liara and Garrus of what he saw, "Okay, I have a visual on the enemy and there's a shuttle just beyond, looks like the turians are in tough." Shepard turned to the others next to him, "Enemies up ahead don't know we're here."

Garrus nodded approvingly, "Surprise on our side for once. I like it."

"Exactly, let's go." Shepard ordered as he darted around the corner with his weapon at the ready.

Shepard sprinted to a slab of concrete and crouched down next to it, he took aim at a re-purposed turian which the Alliance had classified as _Marauders_, fierce creatures that were also hard to kill. Shepard opened fire in controlled bursts, aiming for the creature's head. A sudden jolt of electricity staggered the enemy, Garrus had unleashed a tech attack on the Marauder who spasmed. A few more bursts from Shepard's Harrier-rifle at the creature and it fell dead to the ground. Shepard returned to cover and reloaded his rifle.

Garrus had taken cover behind a wall and leaned out with his Phaeston-rifle and opened fire at a Cannibal after assisting Shepard with the Marauder. The Cannibal returned fire with its arm cannon and a few bullets struck Garrus on his torso before he returned to cover. Garrus grunted from the impact as his shields slowly restarted and Garrus leaned out again and fired a long burst at the Cannibal and finished off the Reaper with a concussion shot in the torso.

The remaining Reapers, a mix of Cannibals and Marauders switched their attention to the new arrivals. Darting behind cover supported by the Marauders, several Cannibals tried to lay down suppressive fire against Shepard's squad so they couldn't move. The turian survivors behind cover down the intersection seized the opportunity the lull in the Reapers attacks provided them and opened fire at the enemy.

Liara unleashed a warp on a Cannibal and after a quick burst from her submachine gun it collapsed near a slab of concrete. Two other Cannibals emerged from cover and darted towards their fallen namesake, making true of their designation as Cannibals. Both tried to use cover as they devoured their own but instead Liara unleashed a singularity, perfectly placed above the two Cannibals which was quickly suspended in air.

Both Shepard and Garrus switched targets and aimed at the two helpless Cannibals within the singularity. After several bursts of fire the two Reapers were dead and soon fell to the ground as the dark energy wore off.

Garrus quickly returned to cover as a steady stream of rounds chipped away at the wall. He quickly changed out his assault rifle for his new favorite gun, the Krysae-anti material rifle. After flicking of the safety switch he leaned out with the weapon and took aim at a Marauder at the end of the alleyway. With a squeeze of the trigger a high-explosive round struck the target and blew it to pieces.

From his cover, Shepard leaned out and opened fire at another Marauder with several bursts trying to take it out. His weapon was soon out of rounds and he only managed to take out the shields of his target. Turning back to cover to reload Shepard saw Liara unleashing a warp attack on the Marauder before she killed it with a burst from her submachine gun. The concentrated fire from both Shepard's squad and the crash survivors decimated the remaining creatures and soon the gunfire died down.

With a fresh clip in his weapon, Shepard rose from cover and ordered, "On me!"

Garrus and Liara joined Shepard as they advanced through the alleyway with their weapons at the ready.

Shepard led the squad into the intersection and they found themselves on a ledge that ended abruptly and on the other side was the crashed Kodiak shuttle which had flipped over on its side. The engine bay was burning rapidly.

Shepard glanced at the other side and saw turians moving about amongst the cover.

Shepard was about to call out to the turians when he heard a turian voice cry out from behind cover, "Head's up! Harvester incoming!"

From above them a dark shadow emerged and a Harvester circled around the intersection. It shrieked as it swooped down and landed. It folded its vast wings and opened fire with its twin cannons at the turian squad covering near the shuttle.

Shepard's squad quickly darted to cover. Garrus still had his powerful rifle in hand and opened fire as rapidly he could at the Harvester's head, the high-explosive rounds detonated on impact. He returned to cover behind a concrete block.

With a combination of a warp attack and small arms fire, Liara and Shepard kept the pressure on the Harvester.

The turian soldiers kept their heads down and tried to blind fire their weapons at the creature but to no effect as its high-velocity rounds were chipping away at their cover. One of the turians was quickly torn apart in the attack.

Sensing Shepard's squad was a more dangerous threat, the Harvester turned towards in that direction and opened fire, forcing them to cover.

Behind his wall Shepard reached for his disposable missile launcher, with two high-explosive rounds he had to make them count. He had never fired the guided missiles at a Reaper creature so he was unsure if the missiles would lock-on or if he had to switch to free-fire mode.

The turian soldiers on their end opened fire at the Harvester after it had turned its attention away from them.

Garrus quickly leaned out of cover and took good use of the proximity-detonation features of the rifle and rippled of several rounds towards the Harvester, hoping they would detonate near it. Perhaps not as effective as concentrated fire would have been but it seemed as the rounds did their job, detonating at the torso of the Harvester.

Shepard brought the launcher to his shoulder and peered out of cover, the targeting computer locked onto the target and Shepard fired a missile which accelerated away and duly detonated at the base of the Harvester's long neck, sending bits and pieces of synthetic material flying through the air. The Harvester staggered from the explosion but it was still standing. It turned its twin cannons at Shepard and fired directly at him. Shepard ducked for cover as rounds chipped away at the wall but one lone round struck him in the torso and he fell to the ground gasping in pain, dropping the missile launcher next to him. His shields protected him but the round had dug itself into his armor.

"Shepard you alright?" Liara shouted to him alarmed over the radio. She was taking cover behind a block of concrete near Garrus.

Shepard clenched his teeth under the sharp pain from his ribs which was throbbing, but he picked himself up and sat down with his back to the wall. His shields restarted again and his armor's first-aid microprocessors kicked in, distributing dozes of medi-gel to ease the pain.

"It fucking hurts, but I'm still breathing," Shepard grunted.

Garrus had quickly reloaded his rifle and leaned out of cover and fired of a couple of new rounds at the Harvester which detonated on impact on its head. The Harvester decided to cut its losses and saved itself by lifting off and flying away. Liara fired a few controlled bursts until the creature was out of range.

Shepard grabbed the missile launcher and secured it on his harness and grabbed his rifle instead.

"Good work people," Shepard panted and rose up.

Liara and Garrus joined up and they walked out to the intersection, glancing at the direction of the crash site.

The surviving soldiers emerged from their cover, a soldier gestured with his arm and shouted, "Thanks for the assist!"

Shepard shouted back despite his torso aching, "Our second team reported success at the nearby crash site; the survivors are pushing towards the lead shuttle!"

"Understood, we'll rendezvous at the main shuttle!" Responded the soldier and he rallied his squad of four and they promptly disappeared behind a wall leading away from their crashed shuttle.

* * *

Things were eerie quiet as Miranda's squad was trekking towards the rendezvous point. They were walking down a street in an alleyway. They had cleared several intersections were they had stopped and leapfrogged across every street, covering each other. They had made good time and were about halfway to the gorge.

Miranda had covered Vega who was last in line as he ran across the latest street they had leapfrogged a cross. Miranda turned and stepped out to move into a small court yard when all hell broke loose.

"Contact!" Zaeed shouted and quickly took cover behind a wall.

Cannibals and Marauders opened up from inside a building down the street, peering around corners, doorways and walls as they sprayed automatic fire to suppress the humans.

Miranda quickly darted to cover in a hole in the ground as bullets were chipping away while Vega remained behind a wall at the intersection behind her.

"Grenade out!" Zaeed called out as he pulled out a grenade from a pouch and hurled it down the street towards the building as several Cannibals raced out to take cover amongst the rubble. The grenade struck one of the Cannibals in the head and severed it from the body which slumped to the ground.

Miranda lied down in the hole and leveled her rifle at the rubble in the street were at least two Reapers was covering.

One of them popped out of cover and fired with its arm weapon, Miranda returned fire and the Cannibal staggered from the hits. Her body was engulfed in blue dark energy as she unleashed a warp at her target. The Cannibal was still standing but Miranda killed it with a quick burst to its head.

As ferocious as the Cannibals were, they didn't seem bright to Vega. The third creature taking cover behind the rubble exposed itself as it tried to devour its fallen kin; enough of its form was visible for Vega to kill the Cannibal with several well placed shots.

But the firefight was far from over, from the collapsed building the two Marauders inside continued firing at the humans. One peered out from the doorway as it fired its weapon at Miranda in her hole and the bullets were kicking up dirt around her. In response Vega fired a powerful explosive projectile from his rifle which struck the Reaper in its torso, but he cursed under his breath as the Marauder wasn't killed. Staggered from the explosive blast, the Marauder tried to disappear into the building but was quickly killed by Zaeed and his old battered rifle, leaving one sole Marauder inside.

The Marauder leaned out from behind a wall and fired at the humans; Miranda attacked with an overload which drained the Reaper's shields. It staggered but remained upright. Miranda quickly aimed her rifle at the Marauder, firing several bursts, Vega and Zaeed quickly joined the fray, firing at the target. Zaeed finished of the creature with a well placed concussion shot to the torso. A short stuttering sound from the Marauder was heard as it fell to the ground.

Several silent moments passed by as the squad scanned the building and the court yard.

"That's all of them?" Vega asked from his position.

Miranda carefully rose from her position, "Seems likely. Come on, we need to push forward."

* * *

Shepard jumped down a short drop from a ledge to a path bellow him and picked himself up quickly. Liara and Garrus were in tow and jumped down as well and Shepard led them onwards. Minutes earlier they had entered a large building and had climbed up a ladder to the second level.

Garrus lamented, "Being the son of Adrien Victus is a lot to live up to. It's a big military name on Palaven. War is expected to run in the Victus blood."

Liara complained bothered by Garrus' words, "No child should live under such pressure."

Garrus shrugged, "It's the turian way. It's always been like that, especially if you are 'nobility' like Victus. And you heard the Primarch back on Menae, they've fought in every war since the Unification War."

"Doesn't make it right." Liara spat.

The squad continued on through the rubble and reached the end of long corridor. They hooked a left through a wall opening and jumped down to another path. From there Shepard could gaze out through what once probably was some kind of large window, overlooking a large portion of the ruined city draped in darkness.

Their radios came alive and they heard Miranda's voice, _"We're at the rendezvous point."_

Shepard activated his omni-tool and looked at the mission computer. Looking at the map he noted they had progressed well. As soon as they had rendezvoused with Miranda's team they had another half a kilometer to walk until they reached Lieutenant Victus' crash site.

Shepard radioed back, "We should be there shortly."

_"We'll be waiting." _Miranda replied.

"Copy that." Shepard said.

Shepard vaulted over a block of concrete and a new voice was heard on their radios, it was Tarquin and he sounded anxious.

_"Commander, do you read me?"_

"I hear you Lieutenant, what's going on?"

_"We're taking heavy fire! What's your ETA?"_

"Hang tight, we're on our way Lieutenant!" Shepard responded. Inwardly he sighed, at their speed, through the ruins, it could take anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes depending on the terrain ahead of them.

Tarquin sighed on his end, _"Copy that Commander. We'll hold them of the best we can. Victus out."_

* * *

Miranda's squad was waiting in the gorge amongst the ruined buildings. They had set up a defensive perimeter in the rubble on a street intersection and were waiting for Shepard's squad. In the distance they could hear the faint noise of gunfire. It was very likely that the turian survivors were fighting the onslaught of Reapers attacking their position. It would remain to be seen if the survivors from Alpha and Bravo would get to the main crash site.

The minutes ticked by and just then Miranda heard the noise of rocks tumbling down at her right and quickly turned to the disturbance. She saw Shepard leading Liara and Garrus as they slid down a slightly inclined wall, on top of a large pile of rubble that had broken off from a building.

"Welcome to the party Commander." Vega said on the other side of the street as Shepard and his squad took ground.

Shepard wasted no time and ordered, "Let's pick up the speed people. It's important we don't lose the turian squad."

"On you." Miranda said and left her cover behind a block of concrete with Zaeed and Vega following her.

Shepard now led the two squads, quickly transitioning as the de facto team leader. The team left the small street and went round the corner to a large wide intersection. Shepard quickly glanced at his omni-tool; they couldn't be further away than two blocks from the crash site past a partially collapsed building. They continued to the entrance of the building and they quickly stacked up. Shepard barged in with his rifle at the ready quickly scanning the room as the others pilled in.

The ground floor was empty, but they couldn't slow down as the sound of gunfire was intensifying beyond the building. Running with their weapons, armor and other gear was tiresome; they were all panting heavily. Shepard led them further into the building as they entered the back of it were the building had collapsed, leaving a unobstructed view of the court yard outside. Shepard cut to the right as the building sloped downhill and the team jumped down several ledges to the court yard below them.

The court yard was dotted with broken walls, slabs of concrete from the surrounding buildings and several support pillars that held a roof in place. And in the distance they saw the muzzle flashes from the besieged turian squad on top of a ridge overlooking the courtyard and behind them were their crashed shuttle. The turians were engaged in a fierce fire fight with several Reaper creatures in the court yard below them.

Shepard ordered, "Zaeed, Garrus: cover fire! The rest on me!"

The team acknowledged, and Zaeed and Garrus quickly darted to cover and switched to their sniper rifles. Shepard led the others onward as they cut through the court yard and found cover.

Laying down suppressive fire from the back, Zaeed and Garrus quickly engaged targets and claiming several kills, taking care not to hit Shepard's impromptu squad or the besieged turian squad on the ridge.

Shepard took up position behind a pillar and leaned out after having identified several Cannibals and Marauders taking cover down range. Shepard fired several short bursts of fire at a Marauder and also fired a concussion grenade at it. It staggered from the hits, and before it could recover itself it instantaneously blew up as it was hit by a round from Garrus' Krysae-rifle.

Behind a block of concrete Vega quickly dared the incoming fire, as the Reapers turned to engage the new-comers, and tossed a grenade into a cluster of Cannibals. It duly detonated, ripping apart two of them as the last one was gunned down by a turian soldier on the ridge.

Miranda was behind a slab of concrete and quickly reloaded her rifle before she popped out of cover again, attacking a Marauder with an electrical attack as it was leading two Cannibals. Its shields were shortened out and Liara joined the fray when she unleashed a singularity at the enemies which Miranda quickly followed up with a biotic attack of her own and the warp detonated the black energy, killing or severely injuring the creatures as they were flung around by the powerful explosion. Miranda was impressed by the destruction that two biotics could do on the battlefield. The Marauder was still in the fight, but only barely as it tried to pick itself up from the ground, but a well placed round from Zaeed's sniper rifle removed the repurposed turian's head.

The combined firepower of Shepard's team and the turian squad on the ridge made short process of the Cannibals and the Marauders leading them. But the turians and Shepard's team was not out of the fire yet. What caught them by surprise was the sight of an enormous sight _Brute._

Garrus cursed from his position behind Shepard's squad, "Damn, a incoming Brute!"

Shepard ordered, "Concentrate fire on it, don't let it get close!"

Shepard had reached for a grenade and tossed it at the direction of the Brute. The high-explosive grenade impacted on the Brute's torso, but it continued unfazed towards Shepard's squad even after being attacked by a intense volley of small arms fire, occasional grenades and biotic attacks from both Shepard's squad and the turians.

Garrus depleted his clip as fast as he could, rippling off several high-explosive rounds at the upper body and head of the Brute, it roared in response as it lumbered forward. It stopped before it violently lashed out, charging several meters against a large support pillar that held up a portion of a roof were Shepard was standing with his back to it. His friend hadn't noticed the Brute as it began to charge at the pillar.

Garrus shouted, "Incoming Brute Shepard, run!"

But Shepard had barely reacted when the creature struck the pillar. The brunt of the attack was absorbed by the pillar, sending pieces of concrete flying but Shepard was knocked to the ground and gasped in pain. He scurried off the ground to quickly find cover somewhere else.

After quickly reloading, Garrus took aim again to cover his friend as did the others but as he was about to fire more rounds the Brute was suddenly struck by an explosion which ripped through the powerful creature and split its body in half. The Brute fell to the ground making a strange gargling noise as it slowly died.

From behind his slab of concrete, Vega was standing on one knee with his missile launcher on his shoulder; he had evidently claimed the kill.

Vega cried out, "Target down!"

"John, are you alright?" Garrus called out worried and peered down on Shepard through his scope.

Shepard had slid behind cover and was panting rapidly and chuckled humorlessly, "I just got the wind knocked out of me. I'm fine."

"All clea-" Zaeed was about to call out near Garrus when a high-pitched shrieking sound was heard over the area.

On a large plateau adjacent to the court yard a Harvester descended down and opened fire on Shepard and the others.

"Harvester!" Liara cried out and unleashed a warp at the creature before she ducked for cover.

The incoming fire from the Harvester was so intense it was confusing. Rounds chipped away at the walls and blocks of concrete were everyone was hiding, the gunfire was ear-deafening and the shrieks from the Harvester sent shivers done everyone's spine.

With a press of a button, Vega turned off the locking-mechanism on his missile launcher which transitioned the weapon to free-fire mode. He leaned out with the launcher on his shoulder and aimed at the Harvester and fired the last missile. It arched forward leaving a plume of smoke behind its motor as it struck the Harvester in the center of the torso, right under its long neck. The Harvester staggered from the explosive impact but it didn't deter the Harvester from continuing its attack.

"I'm out of missiles!" Vega called out as he ducked for cover and discarded the launcher and reached for his rifle, returning fire at the Harvester.

Shepard had reached for his missile launcher on his back and attacked the Harvester. The missile locked on and he launched it at the Reaper. The missile struck the body of the Harvester and sent synthetic material flying as the high-explosive warhead penetrated the Harvester. Its death was instantaneously followed by a large explosion, destroying any evidence they had even fought the thing. Most likely a self-destruct mechanism so Reaper technologies wouldn't fall into organics hands.

An almost eerie silence spread over the court yard as all hostiles were defeated.

"Sound off!" Shepard ordered as he discarded the weapon rose from his cover with rifle in hand instead, scanning the large court yard.

The rest of his team responded positively.

Up on the ridge Shepard noticed several turian soldiers standing up and surveying the area.

"Regroup people," Shepard ordered as he scrutinized his team as they closed in on him, but they all seemed fine with the exception of a few dints on their armor. Shepard on the other hand felt a pain surge through his torso, and especially from his ribs. But his implants were already doing their job and he was slowly healing. But his latest intermezzo with the Brute hadn't made things better.

With his team gathered Shepard led them towards the ridge were several turians kept an eye out for targets while another cared for a injured soldier propped up against a slab of concrete. A turian in red and black armor holstered his rifle and jumped down from the short drop to the ground and walked up to Shepard. Another turian followed suit.

"Are any of you Lieutenant Victus?" Shepard asked through his voice module and stopped. His squad fanned out and covered their rear.

He nodded, "My men and I are in your debt. Thanks for your timely appearance Commander."

"What happened here?"

Tarquin was about to speak when the other soldier grabbed him by his armor and pulled him closer. The man spat disgusted, "His actions killed a lot of good men! He fucked up!"

Tarquin narrowed his eyes and ordered sternly, "Stand down Sergeant Iduma!"

Iduma didn't flinch and snarled, "These men are dead because of him!"

Tarquin reiterated, "Iduma, I said stand down!"

To Shepard it was clear that Tarquin Victus didn't have the respect of his men, and that he wasn't fit to command.

Shepard stepped up to the two turians and physically separated them from each other and said irritated, "Enough! We just saved all your asses, so everyone just calm down!"

Iduma turned in disgust and walked away without saying a word. He climbed up the ledge to the ridge and the men there who watched their commanding officer and their saviors below.

Shepard turned to Tarquin and asked calmly, "Lieutenant, what's going on here?"

Tarquin sighed dejected and looked down on the ground, "I made a bad judgment call. What happened here is on me." He shook his head, "I chose caution and clever tactics over a head-on-attack and my men paid the price for it."

"What did you do?" Shepard implored.

Tarquin explained, "Approaching our target we detected enemy contacts in our flight path and if we continued on we were guaranteed to suffer casualties. Iduma thought it was negligible risk going the intended way as we would loose voluble time taking a detour. But more importantly if we flew through the ruins it would be little margin for error if engaged." Tarquin sighed, "I chose the ruins, skirting the enemy thinking they wouldn't detect us. But we were engaged by Harvesters and the pilots couldn't dodge them. The shuttles were separated and we were in a fight for our lives and we've lost a lot of men."

On the ridge above them Shepard noted movement and saw the survivors from the two other crash sites pour in, they were welcomed by Tarquin's squad. Shepard turned his attention to Tarquin again.

"A plan never survives contact with the enemy. And owning up to ones mistakes takes gut, Lieutenant. Then you move on and get over it to fight another day."

"Yes, of course...it's just fresh in my mind right now." Tarquin shook his head dejected, "But our mission is still a failure. We'll call for CSAR to pick us up and take us back to the _Valēns."_

"You are abandoning your mission?"

"According to the other squads when they radioed earlier we've lost 23 soldiers and pilots and there are only 17 of us left." Tarquin argued vehemently.

Shepard countered sternly, "What was your mission to begin with?"

Without missing a beat Tarquin explained, "There's a bomb on the planet. We were sent to defuse it."

Shepard was surprised, "A bomb? How big are we talking?"

"Blast radius is estimated to be about 500 kilometers; it's located in the Kelphic Valley. Cerberus has it."

Shepard's eyes widened at the news. If Cerberus was in possession of the bomb and they detonated it...

"You have to secure that bomb Lieutenant. We can't let Cerberus detonate it. If they did, the alliance between the turians and the krogan we're trying to forge would dematerialize."

Tarquin asked bothered, "Haven't these men sacrificed enough?"

Shepard continued calmly, "I understand this kind of sacrifice as the hardest to ask for. But your men signed on for it, and so did you."

Tarquin spoke in a low voice, "My men have lost hope Commander." He turned and glanced up the ridge were his battered squad was. He turned back to Shepard. "And even if I wanted to finish the mission, they don't."

Shepard argued, "As the commanding officer of these men it's your job to make them want to."

Tarquin shrugged and asked bleakly, "How?"

Shepard sighed inwardly. Lieutenant Victus lacked command authority; it was evident that he had been fast tracked by his father. Maybe the Primarch needed someone he trusted to oversee this mission, but his son wasn't command material.

Shepard explained, "Their sacrifice means that others will never face what they faced here today. Remind them that those sacrifices have no honor if the mission fails. Remind them that those that died here today died for nothing if they walk away from their duty."

Tarquin found vigor in Shepard's words. With a small nod he turned around and walked closer to the ridge. He spoke in a more assured and commanding voice then he had earlier.

"Men. It's my responsibility what happened here tonight. But we have to carry on."

The battered survivor above them turned to their commanding officer and listened as he continued.

Iduma countered aggressively, still affected by the death of so many, "No we don't! Who cares about a few dead krogan? It's over!"

Tarquin asserted, "We are turian and we will not let Cerberus succeed. Hundreds of thousands of krogan, can die if we don't stop them. Our sacrifice is the difference between life and death for this entire galaxy! If we don't win the battle for the krogan homeworld, we will lose Palaven. We will remember the sacrifices of our comrades of this platoon who performed their duties with bravery!"

Shepard stood in the background and observed the turians, it seemed like the Lieutenant's words were sinking in as they all snapped to attention and saluted their commander.

Tarquin issued orders, "Iduma, take two men with you and get to higher ground and contact the _Valēns._"

"Right sir." Iduma answered and climbed the ridge and gestured for two men to follow him and they disappeared.

Tarquin turned to another soldier, "Doc see to the wounded and that they're ready to go when help arrives."

The squad's medic nodded to Tarquin and went to work on the wounded.

Tarquin turned and walked over the Shepard, "Commander. You've got one hell of a squad and when we go after the bomb we could use your help. We're only a shell of what we once were."

"I'll require all the necessary intel and location of the bomb. This is big and we need to stop Cerberus."

"Thank you Commander. Upon my return I'll have everything sent to the Normandy. We will still need time to prep for the mission and replenish our losses with additional soldiers."

"Agreed," Shepard said and walked closer and asserted, "Lieutenant, you've got a second chance here. Make their sacrifice count."

Tarquin turned to Shepard and said thankfully, "Understood and thank you Commander, we'll wait for our forces to pick us up."

Shepard nodded, "My team and I will stay and provide cover until then."

"Of course, thank you again Commander."

* * *

Within half an hour, the turian Navy had mustered a rescue operation of major proportions. They were not keen to have a repeat of the original mission. Dozens of shuttles and a rescue team had been dispatched, accompanied by fighters and UCAVs, covering the infiltration and infiltration route. Tarquin's squad was quickly picked up and Cortez had also arrived for Shepard's team. The turians were extracted without any more casualties or even contact with the enemy.

The flight home to the Normandy was done in relative silence as Shepard's team tried to rest as best they could in the cramped passenger compartment.

Shepard's wound on his chest hurt, he suspected the tip of the round had embedded itself in his armor and pressed on his body. He stood up and quickly removed the straps on his chestplate which fell to the floor with a loud noise. He peered down on his once white t-shirt which now was bloodied.

Zaeed gave the Commander a cursory glance and said almost absentminded, "Damn Shepard, that's one 'ell ov a bloodied wound."

Miranda turned in her seat next to Shepard and her eyes widened at the sight of the bloodied shirt and exclaimed alarmed, "John!"

"It's alright, it looks worse than it is." Shepard assured and pulled of his t-shirt with dried blood. His assumptions had been right; the round had lodged itself in the armor plates which then had punctured the skin. He would need some stitches.

The others looked with interest but as their Commander was still breathing and could stand on his own they deemed it not very life threatening despite the blood.

"It bloody hell isn't," Miranda asserted annoyed. She grabbed his arm and pulled him down to the seat and he plopped down. Miranda turned and rounded the corner into the cockpit and fetched the first-aid box on the wall behind Cortez and returned to her seat. She opened it and fetched a small bottle of rubbing alcohol and a patch of cotton and poured the alcohol on it, she intended to clean the wound from any potential infections.

"Is everything alright back there?" Cortez asked concerned.

"Yes, only a minor flesh wound." Shepard replied.

"This might sting." She said.

"You don't have to-" Shepard protested but as Miranda began cleaning the open wound with the cotton it stung. "Ow!"

Miranda roller her eyes, "I told you."

After she'd cleaned the wound from all the dried blood it did look a lot better.

From the cockpit Cortez reported, "We're about to dock with the Normandy. Standby."

* * *

The Kodiak shuttle flew through the barrier curtain and settled down in the Cargo Bay as the Normandy's cargo doors shut close behind it. The team stowed away their weapons and took the elevator and disappeared to their respective parts of the ship. Shepard took a detour to the infirmary and had ordered Garrus to do the same, which he promised to do later. Dr. Chakwas had been summoned to the infirmary and was waiting for Shepard who strolled through the door; he had pulled on his chestplate sans fastening the straps, the bloodied t-shirt had been disgarded. Eve was nowhere to be found and neither was Mordin. At this late hour they had returned to their respective sleeping quarters.

Chakwas shook her head at the sight of Shepard, "So you've gone and gotten yourself injured again Commander."

"Yeah," Shepard said and pulled off the chestplate and dropped it on the floor.

Chakwas turned to her interface controls at her deks and turned the windows opaque.

The doctor gestured towards one of the beds, "We need to do a scan and see what happened to you. How do you feel?"

"My implants seem to be healing the injuries, but my rib cage still aches." Shepard responded and proceeded to lie down on the bed.

"Lie still and keep quiet Commander and I'll have this sorted out." Chakwas explained.

Chakwas walked up the scanner's interface near the bed and punched in a few buttons and the advanced scanner-arm moved up and down as it scanned Shepard's body for a minute. Chawas glanced at a computer monitor.

"Well, what's the verdict Doc?" Shepard asked looking at Chakwas.

"A few minor cracks in your ribs. Fortunately nothing is broken and it seems to be healing pretty well." She sighed, "If I had my way I'd keep you of duty for a few days so it can heal properly but with my experience I know that's not going to happen."

Shepard chuckled, "You know me so well Doc."

"I'll stitch up that wound and I want you to rest for the night and your ribs will have healed sufficiently by tomorrow. I'll give you some painkillers to."

"Sounds good."

* * *

After being stitched up Shepard and promptly left the infirmary for the kitchen and took a glass of water and swallowed down the painkillers. He pulled on his chestplate and took the elevator up to the CIC and walked to the QEC-room and dialed up Admiral Hackett to report his new findings.

Hackett's holo was processed and he stepped into view, _"Commander what can I do for you?"_ Hackett paused and glanced at Shepard, _"You look like hell Commander. Is everything alright?"_

"Scrapes and burns sir, nothing a good night's rest won't amend. We're just back from a mission on Tuchanka. I know why the _Ferrata _group was here in the first place."

_"Oh?"_

"Cerberus is in possession of a bomb in the Kelphic Valley, a heavily populated area. The death toll would be enormous; it can destroy everything in a 500 kilometer radius."

Hackett exclaimed bothered _"My God! 500...? What the hell is going on, and why are the turians involved in this? Why didn't they tell us sooner?"_

Shepard shrugged, "Don't know sir. They had a mission on the way towards the location but they were shot down by Reapers. My team and I went in and rescued them. The commanding officer, Lieutenant Tarquin Victus told me about their objective."

_"Victus...? As in Primarch Victus?"_

"Yes, his son was in command as the Primarch wanted someone he could trust to oversee the mission. The kid is way out of his league though, but he is committed. I don't know much else; I'll confront the Primarch as soon as we're done talking sir."

"_Something's not right here Commander. Don't waste time talking to me. Get the Primarch to come clean. This is big Shepard."_

"You got it sir. How about the krogan, should we alert them? It's safe to assume that eventually Wrex will likely have found out we were ground side."

Shepard knew keeping the mission secret for long would be difficult he didn't want to outright lie to a friend, but there was a lot riding on the alliance between the turians and the krogan.

_"Wait until you've talked to the Primarch at least, we're in the dark now. The relations between the krogan and the turians are fragile until the genophage is cured. If we can avoid anything to harm what's been built so far I'd keep quiet about it, let's not push those boundaries. But you got mission control Commander, use your judgment."_

"Understood Admiral."

"_How many troops does Cerberus have on Tuchanka? I thought that mission to the cannon base had taken care of them all."_

"I have no idea Admiral; they have probably been here for some time. Before we or the turians showed up. But we can't let them detonate that bomb."

Hackett nodded, "Agreed. Keep me in the loop Commander. Hackett out."

The connection was terminated.

Shepard called out for EDI, "EDI, get the Primarch up to the War Room."

_"Yes Shepard," _EDI responded.

* * *

Shepard was impatiently waiting in the center of the room, pacing around. The minutes had ticked by and the Primarch walked into the War Room and down the steps to Shepard.

Victus said impressed, "Commander, you did impressive work on Tuchanka. I' grateful that-"

Shepard stopped in front of Victus and interrupted irked, "Why didn't you tell me about the Cerberus bomb Primarch? We could have worked together, maybe even avoided your losses." Shepard frowned, "Why hide it? What else are you keeping from me?"

Victus took a step back and kept his eyes on Shepard and spoke evenly despite Shepard's attack, "I have nothing for you."

Shepard pushed, "For our alliance to work Primarch I need to trust you. I just saved your son and put the life's of my team and myself at risk."

"Our friendship is new Commander. Would you trust me with information that puts your people - puts Earth - at risk?"

Shepard said calmly, "Had it been important for the mission, yes. Why would I jeopardize our alliance by lying to you know? It doesn't make sense."

Victus added, "You are a well known friend of Urdnot Wrex. How could I be sure that you would not pass on this information?"

Shepard sighed and implored calmly, "Yes of course Primarch. I can understand your caution, but you trusted me with this and other matters. We're on the same team. But keep in mind that it might not be easy to keep this hidden from Wrex, this is a small ship after all, even if both krogan have disappeared to their quarters for the evening."

Victus explained his stance, "Decisions like these weigh heavy on me. In the past I could pass them up the chain of command. But now, I'm all I got. Do you know what I mean?"

"Sure. And...?" Shepard implored one last time.

"And that's all." Victus said evenly and held his ground.

Shepard sighed, "Alright Primarch. Good night.". He was exhausted and beaten and wanted to get into bed and didn't want to argue anymore.

Victus nodded, "Thank you for saving my son. I'm grateful for what you've done."

Shepard turned around and gave Victus a nod and said tired but friendly, "Of course Primarch."

* * *

Shepard entered his quarters. Nearing the office he couldn't see Miranda, although her tank-top, figure hugging tights and undergarments she usually wore underneath her armor was piled on the floor near the bed. He glanced over to the bathroom door; she was likely taking a shower. Shepard walked down the steps and towards the closet and did away with his armor. He would go down to Cortez the next morning to have the chestplate repaired. Standing in his black boxers Shepard lied down on the bed and stared up the ceiling and through the window above. He would take a quick shower as soon as Miranda had finished up.

He closed his eyes and rested comfortably on the bed despite the pain in his rib cage.

Shepard must have dozed off for several minute because he suddenly woke up as he felt movement next to him. He turned slightly and found Miranda lying on the bed next to him with damped hair and her robe wrapped around her body. She was looking up at the stars drifting by.

She turned and looked into his eyes and said sincerely, "I'm sorry for calling your affection to me a lie."

Shepard had almost forgotten their argument earlier the day. He frowned, "And you should be sorry. Accusing me for something like that was low."

"I had my reasons," Miranda said in a low voice.

"You made that clear, and I respect that. But what I feel for you is true."

Miranda nodded, "I know."

Shepard took a deep breath, "I accept your apology."

Miranda faintly smiled, "Good." Then she looked at his torso and the gauze that covered up his stitched wound. She asked concerned, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, a few cracks in my ribs. A night's rest or so will heal it thanks to my upgrades."

She caressed his torso tenderly, "What happened?"

"A round from a Harvester came in. It hurt like hell."

"John..." Miranda said in a soft voice and implored, "Be careful."

"I'm doing my best."

Miranda slowly closed the gap between them and captured his lips in a soft kiss. Their tongues grazed each other.

Shepard relished in the kiss and felt better despite the exhaustion. He slowly slipped a hand in under her robe and caressed her abdomen.

Miranda pulled away and smiled faintly again and said, "No ideas John, I doubt sex would help healing your ribs."

Shepard grinned as he continued caressing, "I just wanted to feel your soft skin of that…perfectly sculptured abdomen."

Miranda smiled and laughed at his words of admiration.

Shepard gave her a soft kiss before he sat up, "I'm going to take a shower and then I'll head to bed. I'm exhausted."

"Okay."

Shepard left the bed and headed towards the bathroom.

* * *

_**Barritus means battle cry in Latin.**_

_**Valēns means strong, vigorous, and/or healthy in Latin. Here the emphasis for the ship's name is strong.**_

_**Molon Labe, ancient Greek meaning "come and take". An expression of defiance.**_

_**All character names made up by me are of Latin origin. Fitting as turians are based on the Roman Empire.**_

_**CSAR; Combat Search and Rescue.  
**_

_**I made some minor changes to the mission; in the game they were "down over 30 men", I had that changed to 23 here. They crashed with a cruiser on the planet (or some kind of ship, maybe frigate), but I changed that to shuttles instead.**_

_**Operation Celestial Balance was a US Navy SEAL operation in Somalia in 2009. I thought it was a fitting name considering the overall space theme, astronomy and such.**_

_**Quotes from: Ghostbusters, Aliens, Saving Private Ryan**_

_**Edited 2013-02-03: Minor changes, some credited to xXserialkillerXx, while others are from me.  
**_


	30. Deception

Shepard stepped out of the elevator on the Crew Deck and headed for the mess hall and the kitchen specifically to prepare some breakfast. After a good night's sleep he felt much better, the aching in his torso had subsided and the exhaustion was gone. It felt good not to have anything more pressing then writing letter of commendations for several members of the CIC day shift for their performance in hunting down the Cerberus cruiser. Miranda had offered to write them, but Shepard felt as he was Alliance and she wasn't that it was more prudent for him to write the commendations.

Then there was the mission report on rescuing Lieutenant Victus and his soldiers. Both Shepard and Miranda would need to jump through some hoops to get that report written as she led the other squad and she wasn't officially onboard. Other matters to attend for Shepard were reviewing her previous reports as he hadn't gotten around doing that yet. Other than that, Shepard hoped for a quiet day of administrative work.

From the table colloquially known as the _'officers table', _which ran parallel with the wall dividing the two tables in the mess hall, Shepard heard laughter and shouting. He walked by on his way to the kitchen and noted Garrus, Vega, Cortez and Zaeed having good time eating breakfast, although the aging mercenary had a much gruffer demeanor then the others.

Garrus looked up from his food as he noticed Shepard entering the mess hall. He quipped, "Shepard! Thought we'd never see you eat breakfast again. Did she kick you out of bed?"

"Ha, that's cute Garrus." Shepard said sarcastically as he continued towards the kitchen.

"It's a valid question," Garrus shot back at Shepard with a turian grin, "we've haven't seen either of you the past mornings."

Shepard shook his head at Garrus' jokes and headed for the kitchen as the others continued on with their conversation and joking amongst each other. After a few minutes preparing his breakfast Shepard headed down to the table with a tray of assorted foods and sat down on an empty chair next to Garrus.

"So, what's up guys?" Shepard asked.

Garrus shrugged, "Not much."

Vega ate a pancake and said, "You know Commander, Tuchanka reminded me of the deserts back home - the lizards and worms are bigger of course - but the sand and everything."

"First time there, right?" Shepard asked as he took a bite from his sandwich.

"Yeah. And by all accounts not a very friendly place."

"Now the first mission was a proper one, Shepard," Zaeed said with a mean grin, "a smaller force takin' on a bigger force. Seizin' an artillery piece."

"That thing was a little bigger than an artillery gun, Zaeed." Garrus observed deadpanned.

Zaeed waved him off dismissively, "Ah, yew know what I mean. And last night turned out ter be a prelude ter more ov all these galaxy savin' missions. So i' felt good wiv a regular straight up snatch an' grab op takin' that cannon base."

"Yeah, we could just have been bombarded to pieces by that cruiser if we failed. Nothing to worry about." Shepard said sarcastically.

Zaeed chuckled humorlessly, "No way we're all gettin' out ov dis war alive. Be fun ter try, though."

"Come on now Zaeed, we've beaten the odds before," Garrus said and added deadpanned, "we almost have others onboard now."

Zaeed pointed at Shepard and Garrus and said, "I'll let yew two be the optimists while I'll shoot everythin' in sight instead. But I do wan't ter get back ter Earth an' kill these fuckers though."

"You and me both." Vega added seriously poking around his food.

Cortez interjected, "When that cruiser went crashing down in flames, Commander, it was a beautiful sight."

Vega turned and glanced at Cortez and said troubled, "Sometimes I worry about you, Esteban."

Cortez just shrugged, "It was good to see Cerberus fail miserably once again."

Garrus chuckled, "You think the Illusive Man fires his subordinates for failures like that or just outright execute them?"

Shepard said, "I have no idea, but he doesn't strike me as an equal opportunity employer. It certainly isn't easy to get out of Cerberus and I would not put it past him that if he thought some sort of op might be compromised by a leak from any of his people, he might just try to tie the loose ends. '_Contain the situation,'_ what was he told Miranda when he confronted her over the QEC on Omega. She was vague about what that would entail, but it was pretty clear that he wanted her dead."

It was hard for Shepard to contemplate even the notion of Miranda's death, it made his heart ache and was thoughts he wanted to avoid.

He swallowed hard and cleared his throat and attempted to quickly change topic, "Regardless, you all did a good job on both ops. And we got home safe and sound."

Garrus teased friendly, "So, Shepard worries about Mrs. Shepard?"

Zaeed chuckled, "Just like me an' Jessie."

Shepard frowned slightly, "Shut up guys."

Vega interjected, steering away the conversation, "Loco, we really need something to entertain us while on down time. Poker will only last so long if we don't have other things to do in between."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, like a huge TV or a projector so we can watch films. And a vast library of movies to."

Shepard tilted his head toward Cortez who sat in front of him busy eating from his plate, "The procurement officer is sitting right next to you."

"Well, you are the CO."

Garrus chuckled and said deadpanned, "Observant of you."

Vega ignored the turian, "Just a suggestion Commander which I'll put in. Oh, and not all films should be those Blasto flicks."

"You don't like them?" Cortez asked.

Vega grimaced and said dubiously, "They're fun for a few laughs, but a hanar working as a SPECTRE? What the hell can he do?"

Zaeed grunted, "Don't underestimate the jelly fishes. One almost strangled me ter death once. Tuff son's ov bitches."

Vega looked up surprised and asked surprised, "Really? You've fought one of those things."

Zaeed nodded as he ate some of his food.

Shepard said, "Put it down on a requisition list James, and we'll see what happens."

Vega gave Shepard an appreciative nod.

Shepard looked at Zaeed and then Garrus, "Did you guys get anywhere who's the best marksman?"

Zaeed asserted without missing a beat, "I am the goddamn better one."

"I think not. My Krysae beats your M92." Garrus boasted confidently.

"That fuckin' thing ain't a sniper platform. That's a goddamn cannon."

Shepard and the others chuckled at the argument.

"It got a proximity detonation." Garrus clarified annoyed. "It's one shot, one kill mentality behind the design of that rifle."

"Yeah, yeah Vakarian. You call it what yew want."

Shepard shrugged and snickered, "I got to agree with Zaeed on this one."

Garrus turned to Shepard and declared, "If I hadn't brought it with me to Sur'Kesh we would be in a drawn out fight with that mech. And don't' forget about all those worm-necks last night."

"I'm not arguing on that point. It's a good weapon for destruction." Shepard smirked, "But you cheat."

"Exactly." Zaeed said.

Garrus protested, "I do not cheat. I can hit targets behind cover with more destructive power then most rifles."

Vega interjected for the first time, "It's a cannon. It's not exactly a covert weapon with that explosive round. I'd like to see you use a suppressor on it."

Garrus waved dismissively, "Whatever. You humans don't understand. Plus it's a thing of beauty with these alluring lines."

One of Shepard's eyebrows rose up and he said deadpanned, "It's a rifle, not a woman Garrus. You have to get your priorities straight."

Garrus asserted confidently, "You'll change your tune next time something big will try and kill us again."

* * *

After finishing their breakfast the men disappeared from the Crew Deck and Shepard decided to seek up Liara and spend some time chatting with her. He walked to her office and the door opened and he found the asari standing at the wall of monitors and focusing her attention on the computer in front of her while Glyph hovered silently nearby.

Liara turned to the disturbance and smiled friendly when she saw who it was, "Hello John. What can I do for you?"

Shepard smiled back and the door shut close behind him, "Hey. I'm just here to visit my favorite archeologist."

Liara laughed and turned around to face him, "Your favorite?"

"I don't know many others so it narrows down the list." Shepard walked further into the room, "Everything's alright I hope?"

"A lot to do."

Shepard stopped near her and asked friendly, "As I suspect. Getting any sleep? I can't have you tired if you are going to tag along on missions."

"I get my sleep."

Shepard nodded, "Good. But remember to take some time for yourself as well. You need that."

"Of course John."

"You did a good job last night on Tuchanka. Shows the value of having biotics on the team."

Liara smiled from his praise, "Thank you."

Shepard glanced at the monitors, "What are you up to?"

"Directing resources to the Crucible. They're doing some great progress, but the engineers will need everything they can get their hands on to finish it. So the Shadow Broker is delivering raw materials and anything else that can be used."

Shepard nodded, "Good." He was about to drag her away from the monitors to the couches in the lounge area of the XO office for a friendly chatter but saw that they were nowhere to be found. Liara had tossed them out as well when she installed herself. Pity.

"You know, I've been thinking." Liara said.

"What about?"

Liara began talking gloomy, "I made some calculations on how long it took to annihilate the protheans. It took the Reapers several centuries to destroy the protheans as they were spread out all over the galaxy. By my calculations it will take at least 100 years for them to wipe us out, even if we aren't as widespread."

"That's not long time at all." Shepard mused.

"No it's not. And I'm being selfish, but I could be alive at the end of the cycle if we fail. I'm only 109 Shepard.

"Only 109, huh?" Shepard asked deadpanned in an attempt to lighten the mood a bit. "I'm only wondering how you can afford your pension plan."

Liara shrugged, "I've always thought that other species short life span is a weakness. That it was sad to have short lives." Liara sighed, "Now I'm not so sure."

"Liara, drop those thoughts. The war is far from over."

"Because we have you leading us, pushing us forward. We have others on our side now, but no one will take us as far as you can. No one has that drive of yours."

"So they say." Shepard muttered.

"I still wonder how you do it."

"Failure is not in my vocabulary," Shepard answered with a faint smile. "Look Liara, I didn't come here just to talk about the war or the Reapers. We don't need to do that every second of the day. Sometime you need to push that aside. I'm here to talk to my friend."

"Oh? Yes of course," Liara said apologetic and smiled, "you are right."

Shepard smiled back, "Of course I am. So do you miss your archeology days? Or is being an information broker the new you?"

"I actually do miss those days. I miss the thrill of finding artifacts or analyzing data. Piecing together a puzzle. But whatever happens, it seems those days are over."

"Never going back?"

Liara shrugged, "Well I got 900 years left, so anything can happen. But being an information broker is interesting as well. More deadly and clandestine of course, but very interesting."

"900 years is a long time…" Shepard mused.

"For a human, yes." Liara agreed.

"I still remember the shy archeologist," Shepard grinned.

Liara giggled, "Those were the days. You humans were all so fascinating. I had very limited experience."

Shepard smiled; _at least I got her to laugh_. It seemed that sometimes it was almost only business with Liara nowadays.

"You ate breakfast earlier?" Shepard asked.

"Yes I did actually, got up a little earlier for business. Shared breakfast with Specialist Traynor and Dr. Chakwas."

"You know, Traynor's been eyeing Miranda occasionally."

"Really?"

Shepard nodded and chuckled, "I've notice a few glances every so often."

"Does Miranda know?" Liara asked curiously.

Shepard shrugged, "I don't really know but she probably does, but she hasn't mentioned anything to me. It doesn't matter really."

Liara grinned and teased, "No bouts of jealousy from you?"

Shepard laughed, "Not at all. I know Miranda's preferences and I'm not the slightest threatened by Traynor."

"Alright then."

Shepard smiled friendly, "Next time we're at the Citadel we've to do something together Liara, grab a drink or maybe watch a film. Just unwind, plus you have to get out of this room. I'll probably let the crew have a day of R&R after Tuchanka if we don't have any pressing matters."

Liara smiled, "I'd like that. And that's very considerate of you."

Shepard shrugged, "Well, people need to clear their heads. People need some time to do something else, just to remind them what we're fighting for."

"I got to say John; it's refreshing seeing you much happier nowadays since Miranda joined us. Well, at least considering with everything that's going on."

"Yeah…she's important to me. I missed her."

"She's lucky…you two complement each other."

Shepard mused, "And I'm not lucky? I'm actually amazed I found love in Cerberus of all places."

"Considering the lengths we went to shut down those cells and everything else, it's curious indeed."

"Yeah, and then I worked with the bastards."

"I'm sorry I couldn't join you."

"It's alright, you had your hands full, but you did provide some useful intelligence so you did help out."

"Oh. That reminds me." Liara turned to her computer. "I've actually gotten a few bits and pieces of information from the data we liberated from Omega."

"Anything interesting?" Shepard asked and glanced at Liara and her monitors.

Liara explained, "Yes. There are reports and composition on various Reaper units, but there is more info to be found." Liara looked up, "I'll dig some more but I've forward my findings to the Alliance. I think they would appreciate it."

"Most likely. Good work," Shepard praised her. "Well, I'll talk to you later Liara. I have others to bother."

Liara smiled faintly, "I hope that in a few centuries, the Reapers are just a long-faded memory. Thanks for the visit."

* * *

Shepard left Liara's office and strolled into the empty mess hall and noted Mordin in the kitchen preparing food.

Shepard walked over and greeted, "Morning Mordin."

The salarian looked up and said with a friendly smile, "Ah. Good morning Shepard."

"Late breakfast?" Shepard asked as he glanced at the plate.

"No. Felt a stab of hunger," Mordin casually explained.

Shepard glanced at the infirmary, "How is it going with the cure?"

Mordin turned to face Shepard and took a sharp breath, "Nearing breakthrough. Should have a viable compound within a few days."

"That's good to hear." Shepard said as he turned to face Mordin.

"Indeed. Thank you for the blanket that was sent up. Eve appreciated it greatly."

"Glad to hear. How is she doing?"

"She's getting better, but it's a slow progress. Aware that time is of the essence, but still concerned about her well being."

Shepard nodded, "I can understand that."

"Heard you were on a mission last night. Dr. Chakwas told me earlier. You got injured again."

Shepard explained surprised, "Uh...yeah. I would appreciate it if you didn't talk about it with the resident krogan. It's a delicate situation, literally a time bomb waiting to happen considering the strained relationship between the turians and the krogan."

Mordin looked at Shepard curiously, "Sounds interesting. Something untoward?"

Shepard shrugged, "That's what I'm trying to figure out. I'm not naive; keeping missions under wrap on a small ship is non-existent. But it won't hurt to try."

"Intriguing indeed. But I'll keep out of it."

"I appreciate it Mordin," Shepard said grateful. "I remember you talked fondly about your nephew last year. Did you meet him after the Collector-mission?"

"Ah yes, I visited him quickly when I returned to Sur'Kesh. He ended his tenure to aid in the war not long ago. Brilliant young salarian, could be valuable for the Crucible project, forwarded information to your Admiral Hackett. See what happens." Mordin took a deep breath, "Crucible project very fascinating, could be my next stop after distributing the cure."

"So you are not planning to stick around when this is over?" Shepard asked.

Mordin pondered, "If Ms. Lawson desires my continued assistance with her personal project I'd offer to stay. If not? I'm not sure."

"We'll see what Miranda says then. What about after the war, what will you do?"

Mordin listed off rapidly, "Have made impact on galaxy. Genophage modification, genophage cure, work against Collectors...decisions, mistakes." Mordin paused and smiled, "Might go somewhere sunny. Sit on beach, look at ocean, collect seashells."

Shepard chuckled, "You'd go crazy inside an hour."

Mordin thought about Shepard's comment for a moment and then nodded, "Might run tests on seashells."

Shepard grinned, "That's sounds more like you. See you around Mordin."

"Yes. Lot to do Shepard. Until next time." Mordin turned around and picked up his plate of food and opened a kitchen drawer and began rummaging around for kitchenware.

Shepard left the kitchen for the Main Battery. He entered his turian friend's quarter and found Garrus tinkering with the workstation in the middle of the room.

"Hey Garrus," Shepard said when he walked in. The door slid close behind him.

Garrus turned around and leaned his back at the workstation, "Hey. What can I do for you?"

"Still messing with the Thanix-cannon I see."

"Alliance techs have this cannon out of alignment. Good thing you've got me to help. We don't want it to misfire if we bump into a Reaper."

Shepard said deadpanned, "Yeah that could be the beginning of a bad day."

"Turians on a secret mission to Tuchanka," Garrus stated seriously and crossed his arms over his chest. "No one ever told me anything about it. I asked around about that turian team on Tuchanka but got stonewalled. Whatever it is, it's big."

"Yeah, I tried to talk to your Primarch last night but got nowhere. The entire situation is disconcerting. And if that thing goes off..." Shepard trailed off with a troubled expression.

"We're in a world of hurt."

Shepard nodded afflicted, "The situation is fragile as it is, we don't need Cerberus messing things up."

Garrus said a little more upbeat, "But it felt good getting those guys out of Tuchanka, Shep."

Shepard agreed, "I'm glad we did."

"And here we are, building a potential alliance between turians and krogan," Garrus said amazed, he couldn't believe his own words. He quipped, "Let's just hope nobody's planning an arranged marriage to cement this deal. Krogan females do like men with scars."

Shepard chuckled, "Mordin did try to hook you up with Eve a few days ago."

Garrus's tone went up an octave when he asked incredulous, "What?"

Shepard grinned, "But she wasn't interested."

Garrus quickly composed himself and continued respectfully, "Well, I have to say I admire Eve. The thing's she must have endured - living with the genophage - and now to top it all off she is her people's last hope. Imagine the pressure. It takes real courage to face that. I hope we can measure up."

Shepard nodded, "Yeah, she got guts that woman. And it's an eye opener to after talking to her." Shepard paused for a moment before he continued, "Garrus I'm curious about something."

Garrus' mandibles twitched and he asked glibly, "How to charm the clothes of a woman?"

"I think I got that one covered," Shepard said deadpanned.

Garrus quipped with grin, "As I suspected. You need some professional help with the ladies."

Shepard caught up with his choice of words and chuckled, "Touché, Garrus." Shepard shook his head and asked seriously, "No, I was just wondering what your attitude towards humans in was the past?"

Garrus shrugged, "Well I wasn't much older then you during the 314 Relay Incident. But it was a police action on our part, you were violating Council law."

"And you didn't try to negotiate. You opened fire on us; we had no idea about any Council law." Shepard quipped with a grin, "If I go online and do a search on the extranet what you did will be a description of _'turian diplomacy'_."

Garrus countered deadpanned, "What? You find a giant mass relay and assume that it just got there? Then you decided to jump right in."

Shepard said sardonically, "And how exactly did you guys find Citadel space in the first place? You waited for your relay to transport you to the other side?"

"We observed it for years." Garrus pointed out.

"Exactly. You finally realized you won't just get to the other side if you lie and wait."

Garrus chuckled, "Yeah, yeah tough guy. So you had your little adventure, until we showed you who was boss."

Shepard snickered, "You mean we destroyed your fleet, and the Council had to save your ass."

Garrus snorted, "We would have showed you. We sent most of our forces down there."

"As I said, turian diplomacy. And don't you think that was a little of an overreaction? Couldn't we just have talked things over? You encounter a new race and start shooting up the place. So much for the _'peacekeepers'_ of the galaxy."

"Uh-huh. So what did you think of turians then?" Garrus countered unimpressed.

"You know, I loathed Sparatus. When I tried to get the Council to listen to me when we hunted Saren he was always hostile against me. And he was always the skeptic and thought I was a lunatic when it came to the Reapers, and when actually forced to accept the truth of something he previously dismissed he was still as dismissive of any accusation against him. But he had his opinion and he stuck with it and he wasn't afraid to speak his mind, and I can respect that. I respected him more than the other sophists. And at least Quentius is far less antagonistic towards me, and also a proponent of the races working together."

"And you think Quentius is different from the other Councilors."

"I think so. Irissa is isolationistic and Escheel seems like she is detached from conventional morality only to deceive and manipulate others. At least Quentius didn't hesitate to act, he sent me to Menae, unlike the others who didn't do anything but talk. Quentius reached out to me and offered a way to help Earth and the Galaxy."

"Yeah, that's why it's good to be back where I belong. Less politics and more shooting." Garrus' mandibles twitched into a grin, "And what about your favorite human Councilor?"

Shepard chuckled humorlessly, "He surprised me a bit, but he's as opportunistic as any politician. As soon as the winds turn, he will to. The Reapers are just the best way to advance his career now."

Garrus asked bewildered, "So you don't think he cares about humanity? Not even now?"

"I don't think he is indifferent about what's happening, but he makes decisions that affects billions of people and he does not make them based on what he thinks is best for everyone, he makes decisions because their convenient. After all, the man has no spine, he follows the wind." Shepard shrugged, "I have no idea what he tells himself so he can sleep at night. The Reapers may have shifted his priorities but he is still an arrogant shit."

Garrus nodded approvingly, "The moment I first saw his face I said to myself that _'I really hate this human'_."

Shepard quipped, "Don't we all look alike?"

"Yeah...that wasn't the right thing to say," Garrus deadpanned. "But I have to say, a few decades after Relay 314 and you humans are already making a name for yourselves."

"Oh stop it Garrus, it was all me." Shepard said tongue-in-cheek.

Garrus countered dubiously, "Yeah right."

"So, have you thought about what I said about Miranda?" Shepard asked curious.

"Huh?" Garrus stated confused.

"She isn't like the old Cerberus-Miranda anymore. She's approachable," Shepard explained.

Garrus glibly added, "Are you sure Shepard? Most men would not be okay with another man..."

Shepard deadpanned, "Funny Garrus. If anyone makes a move on Miranda she outright dismisses them." He almost sighed, "Look, she if anyone is in need of a friend or two. She basically doesn't talk to anyone but me during down time. "

Garrus grinned, "Maybe because you two rarely leave your quarters. Always busy…_calibrating_."

"You are always held up in here as well. You need to get out and spread your wings," Shepard poked fun at his friend.

"This is a different kind of calibrating my friend," Garrus joked. "Probably not as enjoyable as yours."

Shepard chuckled, "Look, if you bump into her, just…start a random conversation."

Garrus nodded and said tongue-in-cheek, "Alright, but only because I like you John." Garrus then added more seriously," But _maybe_ you should push her if you want to help her."

"You were there on Illium last year, you heard everything she said. You can fill in the holes. Her upbringing wasn't the best of any childhoods, she's a little hesitant about herself, but I'll get to that as well."

Garrus nodded, "I'll see what I can do to help out."

Shepard said appreciatively,"Great Garrus. I got to run, good talking to you."

Garrus nodded, "See you around."

* * *

In a way it was breathtaking. Udina sat at his desk and kept staring at the monitor, reading every word carefully. He had at his fingertips some of the inner workings of Cerberus operations, although a lot of information had been retracted as there was no doubt a lot of sensitive information that were probably still in use. Only just enough material had been provided on the OSD for Udina to work with.

_The Illusive Man is a careful man indeed._

Udina tapped they keyboard and switched to the character profile of this Miranda Lawson. It only contained very meager details on the woman; only a birthplace and year of birth were given, not a birthday. There were headshots and full body shots of her provided, which portrayed a very attractive young woman in some kind of Cerberus getup. She was suggestive and pretty indeed, but she seemed cold and closed off. What Shepard saw in her, sans the physical attractiveness, was a mystery to Udina.

_No matter._

It was curious that nothing about her background was given. With Earth in shambles and Arcturus destroyed all birth records had either been destroyed or was cut off from the databases. Udina had tried to do some of his own digging on the woman but had been unable to come up with anything. It was also a possibility that her name was a cover.

Apparently a very smart woman, Miranda Lawson had a PhD in Biomedical engineering which explained her part in Shepard's return. She was recruited some 20 years earlier at a young age and was skilled in espionage and adept to taking on different roles and covers needed for whatever her mission was. Lawson was also fluent in several languages, a skilled biotic and proficient in various types of firearms and hand-to-hand combat.

What intrigued Udina the most was her history with Cerberus; starting out as an operative she distinguished herself in different Cerberus cells and rose in rank to a trusted officer within the organization. Later on Lawson would either command cells or carry out missions alone. And she appeared efficient, ruthless and loyal to the Cerberus cause. Most scientific projects she had presided over seemed benign in their nature, but Udina couldn't help to wonder what Lawson's findings led to in the long run after the Illusive Man took possession. Lawson had also taken part in numerous clandestine operations; counter-intelligence and espionage seemed to be her forte, but the file also mentioned manipulation of media personnel and high ranking members of industry, military and politics. She also had been instrumental in recruiting specific people for Cerberus.

There was enough information on file to fabricate an image of a woman not afraid of getting her hands dirty or even using others to further Cerberus' agenda. A ruthless woman who was now involved with Commander John Shepard. At the very least it could be seen as a lapse of judgment from Shepard's side, or if done correctly it could be assumed that Lawson had done some social engineering and tricked Shepard into a relationship. She was able to take on roles when needed so who was to say it wasn't all an act? That she in fact was manipulating Shepard. That she was a Cerberus handler and not a defector.

_Not an impossible scenario to present._

Udina continued browsing for a few moments, taking in every detail provided.

_Or perhaps she is in fact working for Cerberus, and the Illusive Man is simply playing his cards close to his chest._

A knock on his office door stopped Udina in his thoughts and he looked up from his monitor. His first order of business was about to start. Udina had sent home his assistance earlier so this part could be carried out without outside interference; it was delicate business after all. He quickly downloaded several files from the OSD which were made to look like it came from Alliance Intelligence with forged sources, altered images and so forth. He then removed the OSD from his computer and slipped it into his suit pocket.

_Only cheats and liars can survive in the ruthless world of politics_, Udina concluded. Citizens were always narrow-minded and naive and didn't have the fortitude to survive in the cutthroat world of politics, doing what needed to be done, and he was doing his best to improve the outright bleak situation for Earth _and_ the galaxy.

Udina called out, "Enter!"

* * *

Ashley had felt increasingly better in the past days, she'd been allowed to leave Huerta and had taken up residence at the Alliance Citadel HQ, it was just as boring as lying in the hospital bed but at least she helped with the war effort. She was processing war reports and other matters that didn't require her holding a gun as she wasn't cleared for duty and wouldn't be until after her SPECTRE induction later that week. And she couldn't deny that it felt great wearing dress blues again.

She'd never been at the new Citadel Embassies before, and she felt reluctant stepping into the Councilor's office. Mostly because she wasn't a fan of politicians, but also because she didn't like Udina. He just rubbed her the wrong way, he always had. But she put on an impassive face. She would after all report to Udina and the other Councilors soon so she needed to play nice.

Plus she had no idea why she'd been summoned, so she was a little nervous.

The door slid open and she walked down the steps to the office were Udina sat behind his desk, he rose up and gestured for her to sit in front of him.

"Lieutenant, if you would please take a seat."

"Of course sir." Ashley said and walked over. "Thank you."

Ashley noted the state of the Councilor, the stress of the war was showing and it looked like he had aged a decade since she last saw him in her hospital room. Ashley sat down at the desk and Udina returned to his chair.

"What can I do for you Councilor?"

"Looking forward to the ceremony?" Udina asked casually.

Ashley nodded and failed to suppress a smile, "Yes sir. I do."

Udina nodded, "Good. We're in need of capable people in this war so having a new human SPECTRE fighting for humanity is important."

"Thank you Councilor." Ashley said. Although she wasn't sure about the truthfulness in the man's praise, but he had indeed pushed for her to accept the invitation to join so she figured it wasn't all bad.

Udina continued, "Lieutenant, as the soon-to-be second human SPECTRE, I feel time has come to inform you about the investigation into Shepard's association with Cerberus last year. After countless interviews with him we had a good idea of what he had done, and some knowledge about the people that had served onboard the new Normandy with him - it wasn't hard as some activities had been logged on the computers - but we didn't have a full picture of everyone involved. Only bits and pieces. The Commander wasn't too keen to reveal too much, he basically only acknowledged who had been onboard and what their positions had been. As most were of no concern, or had gone into hiding, we never made any concentrated efforts to find them. Although apparently one of them is working for the Alliance at Admiral Anderson's behest. At Grissom no less."

"Okay." Ashley said carefully. She was unsure what the Councilor was going with this.

Udina glanced at his monitor and tapped a few keys. He frowned and said bothered, "Quite frankly I'm concerned."

"About Grissom Academy?"

Udina shook his head, "No that's of no concern. It's Shepard I'm thinking about. After the initial investigation in London it was later moved to a special investigator at Arcturus who continued digging into Shepard's personal dealings as there were quite a few red flags that had popped up."

Ashley remained silent and impassive as she contemplated it all. She hadn't talked to Shepard since their last meeting, which didn't end well. A lump in her stomach began to grow into an anxious feeling; she had a pretty good idea what those red flags were. She was sitting on some incriminating information about her former lover after Shepard had told her he was in a relationship with a former member of Cerberus. Ashley had entertained the idea of informing the Alliance, but even before Garrus had showed up and talked to her she had been a little unsure about it as it could derail Shepard's mission. She understood the complications if it leaked, even if Shepard was a SPECTRE and could carry out his mission as he so pleased.

Then Garrus had ensured her that the woman...could be trusted; it was difficult for Ashley to even contemplate that someone from Cerberus could be trustworthy. And this came from Garrus of all people! Unbelievable! And Garrus had expressed hope that Ashley wouldn't divulge anything, it was better if this Miranda established a presence on the Normandy before Alliance brass was informed. And preferably informed by Shepard himself.

But now it seemed like the Alliance had been suspicious of Shepard for a long time.

Then it slowly dawned on Ashley; could she get into trouble for withholding information? Was it because of that particular reason she was here, was her future SPECTRE-status in jeopardy?

Ashley asked carefully, "So why am I here, Councilor?"

"After Saren's attack, there were quite a few rumors about you and the Commander."

Ashley protested, "Sir, I-"

Udina smiled disarmingly and gestured for her to be quiet, "You don't need to worry Lieutenant. I'm in no way interested about your private life that may or may not have been linked to Commander Shepard."

Ashley breathed out relieved as she slowly calmed down, "Right."

"But it begs the question, are you aware of his current liaison?"

With slight trepidation Ashley said, "I've...heard a name mentioned."

"Miranda Lawson?" Udina asked without missing a beat.

"The surname is new to me."

"Alliance Intelligence did some due diligence with whatever small pieces of information they had come up with. The destruction of Arcturus has impaired the ongoing investigation, and whatever is left of our intelligence service is focused elsewhere of course. But with the files at hand, I'm concerned. Do you know of her former occupation?"

Ashley asked worried about her career, "Sir..am I in trouble?"

Udina shook his head and faintly smiled, "Of course not. You can't be faulted for any actions Shepard has done."

Ashley felt slightly more relieved hearing that. She nodded slowly, "I've been told that she is former Cerberus."

Udina leaned back into his office chair, "Hmm. Exactly. Before Saren, the Commander had a clean service record, hence why we wanted him as the first human SPECTRE, but his actions after Eden Prime and the defiance against the old Council labeled him as a trouble maker. And then there are his dealings with Cerberus - now even more of an enemy to the Alliance then before - which gives pause for concern. Shepard is a controversial figure, maybe some of his past...dubious actions can be accepted, but as he seems to be romantically linked to a former member of Cerberus it makes me wonder if it's a lapse of judgment or something else."

"Something else?" Ashley repeated curiously, unable to mask the worried tone in her voice.

Udina nodded and leaned forward. He reached out and turned around his monitor seated on its 360-degree swivel for Ashley to see.

"These are the last updated classified files from the investigation," Udina explained distressed. "What meager information of the woman we have paints a...disturbing image of someone capable of clandestine undercover work, ruthlessness, manipulation and the ability to take on any role to accomplish her mission."

Udina lifted up the holographic keyboard and placed it on the end of the desk in front of Ashley.

Ashley leaned closer and scrutinized the monitor. Until that moment, Ashley had no idea what so ever how this Miranda Lawson looked like. Ashley had only known her give name and nothing else. She tried her best to maintain an impassive face but couldn't help to grimace bitterly. The pictures supplied were taken from security cameras; some were from Illium, others from the Citadel. Shepard also figured in some of them. In a few of the pictures the Cerberus-woman was featured in some kind of black and white suit which left very little to the imagination, in other pictures she wore various casual clothing or even combat armor. Or as casual as possible as it appeared she had an expensive taste.

Ashley finally understood how she had lost Shepard in the first place. _'The other woman'_ looked beautiful to say the least, and it was difficult for Ashley to accept that fact. Shoulder length dark hair, striking azure eyes and...perfect feminine assets some men would thoroughly drool over.

_Ugh! The woman looks like a streetwalker..._

Underneath her attempted cool exterior anger boiled. Ashley navigated past the images and began reading the file on the woman. Udina was right, she was suspected of being a master manipulator, apt at espionage and she'd even recruited people - no _men_ - to join Cerberus.

_Yeah, I can imagine how she went about 'recruiting' men to Cerberus_, Ashley cursed derisively.

Ashley remembered something Shepard had told her the last time the two of them met. He had told her that Cerberus had wanted to recruit him after the Battle of the Citadel. And Liara had later teamed up with the Cerberus agent in charge to find Shepard's body. Could that have been this Miranda Lawson?

Ashley almost snorted out loud, _lapse of judgment my ass! She seduced him; used her body and seductive looks to lure Shepard into bed! He may not even had seen it coming or been able to resist her!_

Thoughts of Shepard being sexually active with the seductress from the images forced itself into Ashley's mind. How the woman had went about to seduce Shepard; moving her body seductively near him and pressed herself up against him, subtly whispering provocative promises in his ear, her breath against the skin near his ear as she lightly caressed his body with her fingertips, edging him further and further. The two of them kissed lustfully, their breathing increased as they lasciviously indulged themselves while their moaning and gasping-

Ashley suppressed those thoughts as quickly as possible as she returned to reality. More anger filled her; it wasn't hard to imagine the _'role'_ this Cerberus slut had taken on; a revealing and promiscuous woman who could bring any man off-guard.

Udina broke the silence after several minutes, "As you can see I'm concerned about Shepard in this regard. At first investigators didn't suspect that he was involved with her, but when interrogated about his crew, Shepard was quick to appear more non-cooperative when our people pressed on about Ms. Lawson. Our psychologist suggested there might have been something more behind it all due to his reactions." Udina shrugged, "But it was never clarified as both Admirals Anderson and Hackett stepped in and had the interrogators stop pressing the Commander. Both Admirals pulled some strings; they have always been supporters of Shepard and had his back. But the investigators did suspect something was going on between Shepard and this woman. Hence our suspicions."

"So you suspect she has manipulated Commander Shepard? That she is still with Cerberus?" Ashley asked afflicted.

Udina nodded, "But we're not sure where she is-"

"She's onboard the Normandy sir. Shepard confessed as much to me last week." Ashley quickly revealed.

Udina slowly nodded, "Such a revelation does give one a moment's pause Lieutenant Williams. It's troubling indeed."

"I know sir," Ashley said cautious. "I've asked myself if he is somehow compromised since working with Cerberus last year. He vehemently denies any association with Cerberus, but his current association...it begs to wonder if not Shepard's judgment has been clouded."

"He has made some questionable decisions from time to time. It's time for discretion Lieutenant; I'll have to take it up with the Council to discuss the matter. They need to know that one of our operatives is involved with dubious characters, and Shepard's prior association with Cerberus is not something that was well received by any of us on the Council."

Ashley nodded slowly and glanced at the monitor.

Udina rose from the table, "I thank you for your time Lieutenant Williams. I have other matters to attend to. I'll take care of things on my end. You must understand this is a very delicate situation. I want this matter to stay amongst us two; we don't want to drag the media into all this. It can make things even worse. You can imagine the presence of anyone currently associated with Cerberus close to someone so high up in the Alliance hierarchy that it can be potentially catastrophic. I trust your relationship with Commander Shepard will give you a unique motivation and opportunity to save him if all this proves true."

"Yes, of course sir. I'll keep quiet about it." Ashley said and rose from the chair.

"Good day Lieutenant." Udina said with a nod.

"Sir." Ashley said and saluted the Councilor.

She duly left the office with a sickening feeling growing. She couldn't shake the thoughts of betrayal, Shepard had argued the opposite several times before, and she had believed him. Why wouldn't she? But now? With that seductress from Cerberus - who specialized in manipulation and espionage - it wasn't difficult to believe that Shepard had been compromised.

Being lost in her mind Ashley almost bumped into a turian C-SEC officer as she cleared the stairs to the welcome area of the floor but she quickly brushed past him without saying a word. She stopped at the elevator and pressed the button on its interface to call it up. She turned to lean on the wall near the door and glanced at the mural in front of the elevator, once again lost in her thoughts.

Ashley was disappointed in Shepard and his betrayal. She had never imagined that he had such a feeble mind to allow himself being seduced by the enemy. The...'relationship' with this Miranda Lawson couldn't be anything but physical. Love and respect couldn't be involved. His affection for this streetwalker couldn't be serious, or very deep.

Ashley almost chuckled humorlessly out loud; _I would never have imagined John being so shallow just for the sake of sex._

The elevator arrived and announced its presence with a _ping_. The door slid open and two asari – busy talking amongst them - walked out as Ashley hurried inside. She hit the button on the interface which would take her to the commuter station; from there she would take a taxi back to the Alliance HQ. Thankfully she was alone in the elevator as it began its descent.

No, Shepard was most certainly ensnared by this Miranda, who was using him and leading him into compromising the Alliance. But as she thought about it all, it was quite possible that...Shepard's feelings for the woman was real - a notion very difficult for Ashley to think about - but that Lawson's affection wasn't deep at all. She would use Shepard and when her task was done she would toss him aside - or worse. And Udina was right; there was a possibility to save Shepard and if so Ashley would do her best. If Shepard couldn't save himself then she had to try.

* * *

In the loft, Shepard was seated on the couch in the lounge area with his laptop on the table in front of him. He had spent the afternoon reviewing and signing off on Miranda's previously written reports which he had duly sent to Alliance Command and he had also had written several letters of commendation for the day shift's CIC-complement. Currently Shepard was reading e-mails which he had neglected over the past several days. He had received several updates from the Alliance as well as Aria T'Loak.

It seemed Aria had put her merry band of mercenaries to hard work quickly after securing the final parts of Omega. The Terminus Fleet had carried out a wide range of operations against both Reaper and Cerberus forces. Most recently Aria's forces had raided a Cerberus installation on the planet Sanctum, disrupting operations and securing several pieces of Reaper artifacts which was handled with outmost care not to suffer indoctrination. Later the artifacts had been quickly handed over to Alliance researchers.

Shepard was satisfied to learn that Aria was smart enough not to mess with Reaper technology.

The Omega Raiding Fleet had also been proven successful and the Alliance were apparently very pleased by their performance after their first engagement during operations orientation when the Alliance ships they were supposed to meet was overwhelmed in a Reaper attack. The Omega Fleet was told to avoid rendezvousing but instead opted to save the doomed Alliance ships. Since then the Omega Fleet had been sent to various hotspots and had helped turn the tide in several engagements.

Across the galaxy Alliance forces had seen successes against Reapers forces: a Reaper attack on Pinnacle Station - a training facility repurposed as a Command Center - had been repelled and the station was still functional; on the batarian world of Carmala a indoctrination camp had taken heavy damage by Alliance forces and production of Reaper forces had been disrupted; and on Caleston the Alliance Fleet had protected the planet's cities and kept the all important eezo mining operations intact which supplied the Alliance with the much needed component for their ships drive cores.

These were just some of the operations the Alliance had carried out during the past several weeks, and Shepard was pleased by the success the Alliance was experiencing, but there was still a long way to go. But every success was a boost in morale for the troops, it was important to note that the Alliance was making headway.

_Now if we only could get the races together and stop the political stalling._

Shepard noted glum that yet again a mail he'd sent earlier to Tali had failed to be delivered. Latest intelligence briefs from the Alliance suggested something was brewing in the Perseus Veil; quarian pilgrims had been known to purchase vast amounts of ship upgrades before being called home. Alliance analysts believed it could have been reactions to the Reaper invasion, or more likely that the quarians was preparing for combat against the geth. And for Shepard it was safe to assume that Tali would be in the thick of it all, and that there was an imposed communications blackout so information wouldn't be leaked to outsiders.

From behind him he heard the door slid open with a hiss and the sound of footsteps coming his way.

Miranda was back.

Shepard turned as he heard her walking down the steps. She'd been spending time in the gym for the last hour and a half, wearing some casual training clothes and carrying a water bottle in her hand. She sat down in the armchair opposite Shepard and left the water bottle on the floor and she crossed one leg over the other. Miranda had her hair in a ponytail and despite looking exhausted she seemed very content.

"Hey," Miranda said with a bright smile.

"Hi. You had a good time in the gym?" Shepard smiled friendly as he leaned back into the couch.

"Oh yes, I feel very...cleansed now," Miranda responded. "Still working?"

Shepard nodded, "Yeah, a lot to do. I have put it off for a while, but I'm pretty much done."

Miranda teased, "Well, it's good seeing you work; you can't expect me to do everything."

Shepard chuckled, "Then why have a XO in the first place if not having her do all the paperwork?" Shepard smirked mischievously, "Plus it's one of your many great talents."

Miranda said dubiously, "Right." She paused for a moment before she grinned, "You know, Lieutenant Cortez is such a gentleman, he didn't gawk at me once while I was at the gym."

Shepard chuckled and said sarcastically, "I can't possibly fathom why."

"As opposed to Vega," Miranda drawled unamused. "He glanced occasionally, although less than I thought he would."

Shepard grinned, "And how can you blame people for staring at you? Even when we met it was hard to be mad at you, because I had a warm and fuzzy feeling inside me every time I looked at you."

Miranda laughed, "Oh John..."

She smiled and shook her head. Miranda then glanced at her lover who let his eyes roam her body. She didn't mind his attention, but she felt far from sexy at all in her current outfit or state. She reeked of sweat after an extensive workout session and she felt the urge to shower but she also wanted to relax a bit and talk to John for a while.

One of Miranda's eyebrows rose up, "You don't seem...jealous."

Shepard shrugged, "I do not feel threatened by James if that's what you are asking. But that doesn't mean I approve of his behavior either."

Shepard was far from jealous, but it was an irritating behavior none the less, even if it was apparent Vega missed having a woman in his life. Shepard made a mental note to bring up the subject with Vega if his behavior persisted, but he had made his stance clear when Vega actually brought up the subject last time, and Vega probably took the hint.

Miranda said irked, "Ugh, you know, behavior like that still annoys me even if I've gotten used to it after all these years. But I also thought I made things perfectly clear after he tried to hit on me." Miranda snorted, "It seems he hits on anything in high heels."

Shepard shook his head and laughed, "Miranda..."

Miranda glanced at him dumbfounded, "What?" She couldn't fathom what was so funny.

"You are a little...judgmental Miri."

Miranda snorted, "I'm an excellent judge of character."

Shepard chuckled, "Our relationship belays that statement. And if one doesn't take your jabs seriously, they're actually quite funny at times."

Miranda narrowed her eyes on Shepard.

Shepard continued unfazed, "And if I may...play the devil's advocate here; James didn't really do anything wrong when he tried to hit on you. And can you blame him? He didn't know of your situation." Shepard shrugged, "And if he did anything really stupid, you would smear the wall with him."

Miranda grinned devilish this time, "That thought has crossed my mind at times."

"But I think the Lieutenant is clever enough not to do anything stupid. And it's not a smart career move either."

Miranda agreed, "It's not." She picked up the water bottle near the armchair and rose up, "I'm going to take a shower."

Shepard nodded as Miranda left the lounge and he returned his attention to his laptop. He opened up his word processor and began writing his own report on the last mission. Miranda would probably spend a quite some time in the shower; she usually did as it gave her some time alone. He would most likely be finished with his report by the time she was done. Both he and Miranda would have to sit down at some point to craft a coherent report together, leaving out her participation as always.

Shepard wanted Miranda to establish herself onboard the ship a little more before he dropped the news of her presence on Admiral Hackett. Shepard wasn't concerned about the Admiral's reaction as he himself could carry out the mission as he saw fit - the perks of being a SPECTRE - but he didn't need to be on a collision course with the Navy, her presence could rattle some feathers. With more missions under their belt – or rather her belt – Shepard could easily point to her loyalty and a valued member of the Normandy if voices were raised at her presence.

Shepard had read some reports earlier that the Alliance had taken in dozens of Cerberus deserters since Earth was attacked so it wasn't unheard of, but Shepard suspected the Alliance was more than a little paranoid about their presence and kept close tabs on those deserters. But the Alliance couldn't be picky of their allies either due to the war. The alliance with Aria's mercs proved this point.

After about half an hour of writing Miranda was back from the shower. Shepard noted her coming down the steps with a robe wrapped around her petite body. She headed for the couch and sat down next to Shepard with a coy smile on her face and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. Shepard saved his document and turned his attention to Miranda and smiled back. He loved the way she smelled when she had gotten right out of the shower. Shepard wrapped his arms around her slender frame.

Miranda teased, "Do you realize I haven't kissed you in over an hour?"

"I think its two hours actually." Shepard deadpanned.

"Mh-hmmm...far too long," Miranda purred as she moved to straddle Shepard. She pushed her body against his and pressed him against the couch as her face slowly moved closer to his. Miranda slid her arms around his neck and closed her eyes as his soft lips met hers. Shepard slipped his hands in under her robe and gently caressed her abdomen and hips and moved his hands further around to the small of her back. His fingertips trailed circles on her soft skin.

Miranda breathed faster and faster as she deepened the kiss and her heart beat quickened. Her body melted into Shepard as he pressed her body closer to him. There was a battle of wills emerging; they were both competing over who was in control. The intensity surprised Miranda as their kissing kept going. Then she paused for a breath and pulled away and opened her eyes to look into her lover's as both of them were breathing hard.

"Exactly what I needed," Miranda said with a sexy smile and slipped of Shepard and sat down close to him.

Shepard turned to her and asked with half a chuckle, "That's it?" He was clearly very unsatisfied.

Miranda leaned in and gave him a soft kiss. She grinned, "For now."

"Tease," Shepard countered and wrapped an arm around her back, feeling the softness of the robe. He starred at the wall and the bulkheads behind the bed.

Miranda moved to rest her head on his shoulder, enjoying the calm moment.

She said, "I talked to my sister yesterday."

"I think you mentioned something like that yesterday. Is she alright?"

"Yes, and she appears in good spirits despite everything. Thankfully the war fronts are still far, far away." Miranda sighed, "I hate being parted from her."

Shepard pulled her closer in his embrace and said softly; "I know. We can swing by and pick her up if you want."

Miranda contemplated his offer, "Hmmm. Despite the Normandy being one of the safer places in the galaxy, she'd probably die of boredom. And we could still bump into a Reaper ship." She sat up a bit and kissed Shepard on the cheek, "But I do appreciate that you want to help."

Miranda returned to rest her head on his shoulder.

"So what did you two talk about then?"

"She misses her parents. And they're worried about her. They're supposed to be moved to an asari colony far away from the war which is one less thing for her to worry about."

"Why did she go to Horizon in the first place? I know she was there to work on colonization."

Miranda snorted, "Guy problems. A classmate she was dating ended it and she wanted to clear her head over the summer. And she elected to stay after Earth was attacked. Despite some rather vocal opposition from me. And her parents."

"Stubborn?"

"Yes."

Shepard turned and grinned, "A trait you two share."

Miranda straightened herself from his shoulder and said with a sly smile, "Both of us only want the best."

"Uh-huh. I know that." Shepard said with a knowing smirk.

Miranda wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down into the couch, which was wide enough for two people if they lied on the sides next to each other as they did at the moment.

"We gossiped a bit about you," Miranda added with a grin.

Shepard draped a arm around her waist and he grinned, "You told her how great kisser I am? And how great I'm in bed?"

Miranda laughed, "Don't flatter yourself."

"You know it's true."

Miranda said mock-seriously, "Hardly."

Shepard feigned being hurt, "Some words of encouragement now and then wouldn't hurt."

Miranda countered with a grin, "Oh? So my behavior isn't encouraging enough?" She smirked as she moved her face closer to his, their lips brushing close, "Our sex life is amazing, and in no small part thanks to you-"

Shepard's face lit up.

"-but that doesn't mean Ori needs to know such details." She planted a soft kiss on his lips and then she pulled back slightly.

"Thank you." Shepard said and gave her a soft kiss in return.

"Hmph. Your ego doesn't need it." Miranda teased good-naturedly.

Shepard said deadpanned, "It does actually."

"You know, she's getting bolder in asking questions directly about us. She _did_ ask about our sex-life. I wasn't inclined to answer."

"Are you...'trained' against interrogation from your sister?"

Miranda chuckled, "No, I'm not. And it wasn't covered in Cerberus training."

Shepard taunted with a grin, "You are in so much trouble."

"Yeah? So are you. I'm dragging you down with me."

"Traitor," Shepard said with grin.

They remained quiet for a while, enjoying each other's company. Miranda glowed with happiness as she snuggled closer to Shepard.

Eventually Shepard broke the silence, "I always thought that Miranda Lawson was a cover name."

Miranda looked up curiously, "Why?"

Shepard shrugged, "Didn't think you used your real name. That's all."

"No, it's my real name." Miranda clarified.

Shepard said cautiously, "Considering fleeing from your father I'm also a little surprised that you kept the surname."

He didn't know many details about Miranda's awful childhood. He knew well enough it was a topic he needed to tread carefully about when asking. But he was confident enough in how far the two of them had come that he could at least brush the subject.

Miranda explained, "An act of defiance on my part. He couldn't touch me while I was employed in Cerberus' service. But I've used several aliases in my days."

"Such as?" Shepard inquired interested.

Miranda thought back to her more clandestine days, "Once I was French Diplomat, Elana Truffaut - I can speak French fluently I might add; I was a personal assistance to a Cerberus-invented arms dealer, Mr. Lichtenstein, and I used the alias Rebbeca Franco at that point-

Shepard interrupted incredulously, "Lichtenstein?"

Miranda shrugged, "Not many batarian mercenaries will know that Lichtenstein is a country on Earth."

"Huh. I guess not."

Miranda continued, "Once I was a scientist, Dr. Jennifer Burton, with a PhD in Biomedical engineering - apt as I actually have that. I was sent to a symposium on Nos Astra to acquire technologies through wirelessly hacking my unsuspecting target's devices."

Shepard grinned, "You're one hell of a spy Ms. Lawson."

"I'm quite good at it." She added self-confident.

Shepard quipped, "Very modest of you."

Miranda chuckled, "Its only a matter of fact. Once I was posing as a model named Grunka Kassabian."

Shepard frowned appalled, "What kinda name is that?"

She giggled, "You don't like it?"

"Sounds like something you name a...Garrus," Shepard explained deadpanned.

"So if that was my real name, what would you do?" Miranda asked curious.

Shepard chuckled, "I'd question your sanity in not changing."

"Very loving of you," Miranda said sarcastically.

Shepard was taken aback by the alias, "I'm sorry but... I would look at this goddess and suddenly I think...Grunka and…" Shepard chuckled, "I don't know. A demon."

Then very abruptly Joker's voice interrupted them over the intercom_, "Commander?"_

Shepard sighed uninspired, "Yes, what is it Joker."

Miranda rolled her eyes; she was just as annoyed to hear Joker's voice all of a sudden.

_"Lieutenant Victus is on the QEC, he says it's urgent."_

"Right, understood Joker," Shepard said evenly.

Shepard moved his hand from her waist and cupped Miranda's face and gave her a soft kiss. She smiled happily despite the pilot's interruption.

Joker continued deadpanned, _"It's good to know that turians can flip out and lose their shit like the rest of us. What would they do without you, huh?"_

Miranda sat up from the couch and walked towards the closet, swaying her hips for her lover. Shepard sat up as well and watched her with lustful thoughts in mind, but he pushed those aside.

Shepard told the pilot, "The turians have a lot on their plate. They're under a lot of pressure."

Joker exclaimed glibly, _"You stole the Normandy, got blown up by the Collectors and took us on a suicide mission to the galactic core...and I haven't mutinied once! Not once!"_

Shepard quipped with a grin, "And I appreciate it Joker. We're all leaning on you to save the galaxy."

At the closet Miranda chuckled. She had dropped the robe on the bed behind her to reveal her naked body. She was trying to figure out what to wear. Shepard still remained seated in the couch, mesmerized by her naked beauty as his eyes roamed her body.

Joker pushed carefully, _"So...were you and Miranda-"_

"Joker!" Miranda snapped from the closet as she slipped on a pair of black satin thongs.

Joker took the hint and responded without missing a beat, _"Understood. Keeping my mouth shut. The Lieutenant is still waiting Commander. Joker out."_ The intercom was shut off.

Shepard rose from the couch and walked up to the bed and had his eyes still on his significant other. "I'll go to the QEC. We might have a mission on our hands," he smirked, "so maybe you shouldn't pick the most expensive designer blouse you can find."

Miranda turned to Shepard and smiled, "Of course Commander."

"You did that on purpose. Removing your robe."

Miranda slyly smiled, "What if I did? You were too focused on Joker then me."

"You're lucky I got official business to attend." Shepard said with a smirk as he focused his attention on her body. "Otherwise I'd ravage your body now."

Miranda chuckled as she crossed her arms under her breasts – a little psychological warfare on her part. "Oh? You got it all wrong. I'm the one that ravages your body."

"I take control now and then," Shepard protested.

His lover countered with a mischievous smirk, "When I let you. And besides, when did you start to complain about me being on top?"

"I don't." Shepard clarified.

Miranda grinned and turned to the closet, "As I suspected."

* * *

A few minutes later Shepard found himself in the QEC-room in front of the holo of Tarquin Victus.

"Lieutenant, what can I do for you?"

Tarquin gave Shepard a friendly nod, _"Commander, I hope you are still offering your support. I've augmented my platoon with additional troops and we're ready on our end to launch the mission."_

"Alright Lieutenant. Give me some time to ready my team and we will be on our way. I've studied the information you sent and I can't stress how important this is that Cerberus can't detonate that bomb."

_"I agree Commander. I'll see to my platoon and we'll be on our way after you've sent word. Lieutenant Victus out."_

The QEC-feed was shut down.

Shepard called out as he turned around and walked out of the QEC-room, "EDI, tell the team to get ready. We've a mission."

_"Very well Shepard." EDI responded._

Shepard strolled through the War Room and saw Victus approaching him from the Conference Room, and he walked down the steps to Shepard.

Victus stopped and greeted, "Commander. I was recently briefed by my son in a mail correspondence. I must commend you once again for the excellent mission you carried out. You have my thanks."

Shepard smiled friendly, "Thanks for your words Primarch."

"It seems your reputation is well deserved. Tarquin hopes to enlist your help in preventing the detonation of the bomb."

"Ah, yes. We just spoke over the QEC." Shepard explained and gestured towards the QEC-Room behind him. "We're about to head out again."

Victus nodded somber, "The destruction and the loss of life will be enormous if Cerberus succeeds, Commander. You will have my gratitude, and I'm sure, the gratitude of the krogan as well."

"I know, the implications will be dire for everyone if they succeed." Shepard pushed a bit, "Nothing else you want to add Primarch? Anything that can aid us further."

"I'm sorry Commander," Victus said afflicted but added with more vigor; "But good luck to all of you."

* * *

**_Quotes from: Bound and Touch of Evil. _**

**_A few random Chuck-references._**

**_Credit goes to xXserialkillerXx for ideas to Garrus' & Shepard's talk about FCW and the Council as well as a few ideas on Miranda's judgmentalism. Also a couple of additional pointers to expand a bit on Udina and Ashley after my first draft._**

**_The Alliance and mercenary missions mentioned were lifted from the Galaxy at War-mode of the Mass Effect 3: Datapad iOS app and the game's War Assets-database (sans the Sanctum-mission which is the N7: Cerberus Lab-mission)._**

**_Edited 2013-02-21: Some additional changes here and there. Streamlined some of Zaeed's dialogue. A couple of ideas credited to xXserialkillerXx. _**


	31. No Sacrifice, No Victory

The Normandy Kodiak-shuttle descended over Tuchanka and headed for the designated landing zone near the ruined city were the bomb was located. The turians would land on the opposite side of the krogan city.

Shepard's team sat in silence in the passenger compartment, doing final checks on their gear, weapons and securing their helmets. Shepard did one final comms check over the radio net and the others reported in. Everything was in working order. Prior to lift off Shepard had briefed his team, concluding they had been supplied with very meager information. But they had enough from the turians - and additional scans by the Normandy - to gather a pretty solid picture over their target area, but Shepard was no fan of going in blind.

From the cockpit, Cortez called out, "Commander, we're being hailed by the turian team. I'm patching through to the screen behind me."

"Understood Lieutenant," Shepard said and rose from his seat and walked over to the holographic display on the wall outside the cockpit.

The screen flickered on and Shepard saw Lieutenant Victus on the feed. He was inside a shuttle of his own. Shepard held on to a small handrail on the wall as the shuttle bumped around.

_"Spectre 0-1, this is Javelin 5-1. Do you copy?"_

"I hear you Javelin," Shepard responded.

_"We're on approach to our LZ." _Tarquin said troubled, "_We're getting bounced around pretty bad on our end." _

"We've to clear the area fast. As soon as you hit the ground, move on the bomb site and we'll converge there."

_"Roger that."_

"I hope you can fill in the missing pieces on this Cerberus bomb, Lieutenant." Shepard said, hoping for once to get a straight answer.

Tarquin shook his head and sighed troubled, _"It's not a Cerberus bomb, Commander."_ Tarquin hesitated on the feed, _"It's...turian."_

Shepard shot back dumbfounded, "What do you mean 'turian'?"

_"Centuries ago, after the Krogan Rebellion, it was planted there to ensure that if the krogan ever rose up again we would preemptively strike back to stop another galactic war."_

Garrus had left his seat and walked up to Shepard's side and argued the necessity, "Brutal...but it makes a certain kind of sense; put down the krogan hard if they tried anything."

Liara chimed in from her seat behind them, "To keep the krogan from becoming a threat."

Shepard shook his head, "I guess they weren't to be trusted after the war." Now he understood why they had been stonewalled all this time by the turians and why the Primarch stood his ground; if that information had leaked it would have severed the fragile alliance that was in the making.

_Wrex will not be happy if he finds out about this. Or rather when he does._

Shepard continued vigorously, "We can discuss the finer points of trust, ethics, diplomacy and what not later. Right now we need to find and disarm that bomb. I guess you guys have additional info you haven't shared with us."

Garrus turned around and returned to his seat and watched Shepard listening to Lieutenant Victus on the feed.

_"We do Commander. You know the bomb site already, but it was buried there by my people, and now Cerberus somehow found its location and has uncovered it. If they detonate it, it means all-out war between my people and the krogan. Urdnot Wrex won't care about its age or why my turian ancestors buried it in there in the first place. That's why my father wanted me, someone he trusted, to find the bomb in the first place."_

Shepard concluded bitterly that the alliance that was being brokered would be for naught if it detonated.

"It must mean Cerberus has been here for a while then." Shepard pointed out the obvious.

_"Yes, shortly before the invasion of Earth our intelligence service had a security breach and started an investigation into this. Eventually they found a lead."_

Shepard frowned, "The krogan are bound to figure out something, especially with all this activity on the ground. You won't be able to keep this a secret; it's a diplomatic crisis waiting to happen."

_"Then that's another reason we can't fail. We can contain this if we disarm the bomb. The 9th platoon will screen your flank Commander."_

"Copy that Lieutenant. Good luck," Shepard said and closed down the feed with a press of a button.

From his seat, Vega reflected somber, "Your dad becomes Primarch and sends you on a secret op like this? That's pressure."

Shepard turned to the others and said sardonically, "So...a turian bomb in Cerberus hands and we could all be wiped out in a heartbeat if they manage to arm it. Basically, it's a suicide mission."

Miranda chuckled humorlessly from her seat in front of Shepard, "I love a good suicide mission."

"Me too!" Shepard said cheekily.

From the cockpit Cortez called out, "Approaching the LZ, Commander."

* * *

Cortez navigated between the cramped buildings and approached a wide court yard. The shuttle door opened as the Kodiak touched down on ground; Shepard was first out the Kodiak with his assault rifle in hand, followed closely by Garrus and the others as they knelt down and set up a defensive posture near the shuttle.

For the moment all was quiet.

As soon as the team had cleared the shuttle Cortez radioed, _"Dusting off. Good luck." _

The thrusters fired and the Kodiak took to the skies again, leaving the area.

Shepard surveyed the area in front of him through his scope; the court yard was littered with debris, fallen slabs of concrete and there was large cracks in the ground which almost formed a trench like terrain. Half of the court yard had been pushed out of the ground by a meter, almost like during an earthquake. The court yard stretched on out about 100 meters to a collapsed building, but Shepard couldn't see any hostiles so far.

"Form on me," Shepard called out on their secure radio channel.

A plethora of positives was called out from his squad as they formed up on Shepard who led them onwards.

They had only traversed the court yard for a few meters when Shepard heard the distinctive whirring-whizzing sound of a small mortar shell that passed close over their heads. It fell down halfway between Shepard's team and the end of the court yard; the echo of its explosion rang out in between the buildings. The shockwave was felt against their bodies and shrapnel cut through the air, but everyone had instinctivly ducked down on the ground and all escaped unharmed.

Shepard quickly rose up and called out, "Let's move it people!"

The team raced for cover as more mortar rounds landed in the court yard. Their heart rate picked up and their bodies pushed out adrenaline as the frantic and deadly bombardment started . Out in the open it was a death trap.

Shepard was surprised when he saw two Cerberus troopers emerge from cover, daring the incoming mortar. They had been behind cover on the elevated part of the court yard.

Shepard cried out, "Enemy contacts!" He slid behind the closest cover he could find and leaned out with his rifle and killed a trooper with a few well placed bursts to the head.

"Fuck!" Zaeed called out as he quickly knelt down out in the open and aimed _Jessie_ down range. He fired several controlled bursts at one of the troopers instantly killing him.

Garrus cried out incredulous, "What are they? Suicidal?"

The team ran onwards and they vaulted over the elevated part of the court yard and pressed on a few meters before they slid behind cover behind whatever they could find.

In their earpieces, Tarquin radioed them, _"Commander, we're meeting heavy resistance on our LZ!"_

Shepard panted heavily and called out under duress, "We're receiving heavy mortar fire on our end!"

* * *

Onboard the _Ferrata, _two UCAV-operators seated in a command room listened into the frantic radio chatter from below. The sleek machine soared through the sky high above the wasteland, controlled by the UAV operator. The sensor operator controlled the camera-interface and panned across the court yard, noting the heavy bombardment. He zoomed out and began a search for the origin of the mortars. He used highly sophisticated computers and was able to plot the trajectory of the incoming mortars to the east about a kilometer away from the impact zone.

The UCAV came within weapons range and the two operators sat-up their attack kilometers up in the sky and launched a high-explosive air-to-ground missile from one of the hardpoints on the aircraft, directed at one of several mortar pits situated in another courtyard.

* * *

They couldn't sit behind cover for long with mortars falling on their heads. Shepard and the others quickly left cover and ran onwards. Having traversed almost half of the court yard as rounds was getting closer, the six-man team was soon forced to cover again after running through some open terrain. A squad of four Cerberus troopers and Centurions emerged from behind cover and opened fire.

In his earpiece Shepard heard a new turian voice, _"Spectre 0-1, Helix 7-2 on station and engaging mortars."_

_Thank God for the turian military_, Shepard thought delighted. He didn't know who Helix 7-2 was, but a safe bet was that Helix was some kind of fixed-wing aircraft above their heads.

His squad quickly found cover and engaged the enemy squad some 15-20 meters in front of them.

Miranda unleashed a tech attack on one of the Centurions which drained his shields, leaving him vulnerable to attack. Zaeed had readied a grenade and took the opportunity and threw it at the Centurion, it struck the man in the torso and detonated, leaving a bloodied and slumped body on the ground soon after. The shrapnel from the grenade injured the three remaining Cerberus squad members as they cried out in pain but they darted back behind cover.

The sensor-operator returned on the radio net, _"Helix 7-2, target splashed."_

Shepard leaned out and opened fire at one of the exposed troopers who staggered from the rounds before Liara finished him off with a warp-attack.

The Centurion launched a smoke grenade from his M96 which released its contents and obscured Shepard's team's view. Shepard leaned out and through his thermal scope he could see the two Cerberus troops fall back using the smoke for cover. Shepard opened fire at the trooper and killed him and had to reload, but the Centurion didn't get far when a mortar landed right on him and obliterated the Centurion in the explosion.

"It looks clear for now, we've to push forward!" Shepard ordered and left cover with the others soon behind him.

The team heard yet another radio call from Helix, confirming a new target destroyed, but the team didn't notice a lull in the attack when they cleared the next portion of the court yard as more mortars rained down in their area. The group was spread out in order to minimize potential casualties if a mortar landed near them. They pushed onwards and one of the bombs landed right in front of them, luckily it was a dud and its tail fins were sticking out of the ground. Despite the ferocity of the oncoming bombardment it gave the team a moment of respite as they stared at the dud for a short second, counting their blessings before they started running again.

"We can't stay out in the open!" Garrus shouted.

When the team had almost cleared the court yard they received more small-arms fire, it came from the collapsed building in front of them. The team headed for cover and returned fire with a mix of small arms fire, biotics and tech.

Shepard noted that the mortar bombardment had become less and less frantic by now, Helix 7-2 had done wonders providing Close Air Support. Shepard quickly devised a plan, he ordered Miranda and Vega to join him as the others stayed behind and provided cover fire. Garrus took the opportunity to retrieve his Krysae-rifle for some added destruction.

Shepard moved ahead to their left, huddling close to a fallen pillar with Miranda and Vega in tow. It took them almost to the opposite side of Garrus' squad who directed a volley of fire at the Cerberus team.

Liara unleashed singularity near a slab of concrete, it captured a trooper in its dark energy while another quickly darted away from cover to flee the biotic power, but Garrus caught the fleeing trooper in his sights and quickly killed him with a shot from his rifle.

Vega fired a high-explosive round from his rifle at the singularity which duly killed the trooper in the explosion. Shepard and Miranda opened fire with their rifles at the remaining Cerberus squad in their flanking maneuver, taking the hostiles by surprise as they had to counter-attack the flanking attack. It didn't take long until Shepard's squad had killed the Cerberus troops with gunfire.

"Is it clear?" Garrus asked over the radio net just to be sure, even if the enemy gunfire had died down.

"Yeah, come on up." Shepard called out and vaulted over the fallen pillar.

By now the mortar bombardment had almost vanished as only a few indirect rounds fell on the court yard, far away from Shepard's team. Garrus led his impromptu squad and joined up with Shepard's near the 'entrance' to the collapsed building. The entrance was nothing more than a large hole in a wall.

Zaeed walked up to Shepard and chuckled, "Fuck me Shepard! That was one 'ell ov a dash fer safety."

Behind her face plate, Miranda frowned. _No thank you very much_, she thought unamused and pushed away that mental image as fast as she could while she reloaded her M8-rifle.

"Let's not do that again, Loco." Vega complained out of breath.

Shepard chuckled and glanced over the assembled team, "Everyone alright? All limbs accounted for?"

His team responded positively.

In their radios they heard, _"Spectre 0-1, this is Helix 7-2 we've prosecuted almost all targets but we are winchester at this time. Are you in the clear?"_

Shepard radioed back, "Yeah copy that. We're all good. Thanks for the support."

_"Affirmative. We're sending home this UCAV, a new one will be in position soon but it will take about 10 minutes to transition control to a new UCAV and get it into atmosphere."_

"Understood."

_"We're bugging out."_ Transmitted the sensor-operator before the communication channel was turned of.

Shepard this time radioed Tarquin, "Javelin Actual, this is Spectre 0-1, what's your SITREP?"

Tarquin informed, _"We've pushed through the LZ and are heading for the bomb site Commander. No casualties. Are you alright?"_

"Good job Lieutenant. We've cut through the court yard. So what will happen at the bombsite when we get there?"

_"Once there I'll need to reprogram the trigger mechanism. After that the bomb will be inert."_

"Copy that. See you on the other side Lieutenant."

_"You got it Commander. Tarquin out."_

Shepard turned to his team who had reloaded their weapons, "Alright, let's go, you aren't paid by the hour."

"You don't pay us at all Shepard." Zaeed growled.

Shepard led them into the building were a fallen part of the roof created an inclined passage that took them to the second floor were they took a right through another collapsed wall into a small antechamber adjacent to a large hall.

It didn't take long until a Cerberus force in the hall engaged them, leaning out of cover behind broken walls and portable cover systems. When a turret, placed behind a shield, opened fire at Shepard's team they scattered behind cover in the antechamber and returned fire.

Shepard ducked behind a portion of a wall and ordered, "Garrus, Miranda; overload the turret!"

Garrus and Miranda had taken cover near each other and acknowledged Shepard's orders as they dared the incoming fire, only exposing their arms as their omni-tools unleashed tech attacks almost simultaneously.

The turret's shields were quickly drained in the attack.

"Vega, take it out!" Shepard ordered the Lieutenant near him and Shepard leaned out and fired several bursts at the turret.

"You got it!" Vega shouted and leaned out as well and with a well placed high-explosive round from his Valkyrie-rifle the turret exploded.

A combat engineer dared the incoming fire and with no care for his life he ran out into the open and tried to reach one of the portable shields on the ground to set up a new turret to fend of Shepard's team, but Garrus was already out of cover with his Krysae-rifle and fired a projectile at the engineer which exploded on impact and ripped apart the body.

The three-man Cerberus squad that remained continued keeping up the pressure and suppressed Shepard's team as best as they could, but they were outnumbered.

Liara quickly unleashed a singularity behind a wall were two troopers covered, capturing them helplessly in its gravitational field. Liara fired her SMG at one of the troopers which duly killed him and she quickly returned to cover to reload.

Liara called out, "Miranda! The singularity is all yours."

Miranda didn't hesitate and a moment later she'd calmly popped out of cover and unleashed a warp attack on the singularity, which detonated the dark energy, the trooper was instantly killed as he was flung across the hall into a wall.

That only left one trooper remaining behind a slab of concrete. Vega pulled out a grenade from one of his pouches and hurled it at the direction of the enemy and grinned satisfied when it detonated and he could hear the muffled synthetic voice screaming in pain as the body fell to the ground.

"Target down," Vega called out.

Shepard's team carefully turned out of cover and scanned the hall, but they couldn't discern any hostiles and they moved up; but before they knew, Cerberus reinforcements were already on their way into the hall on the opposite side of the hall. A mixed Cerberus unit of troopers and Guardians entered the hall.

The team quickly found cover behind a collapsed wall as the hostiles opened fire, but crafty use of Liara's singularity and several troopers were left vulnerable to attack and were quickly killed by small arms fire. The Guardians pressed on, carrying their polycrystalline-composite shields in front of them to protect themselves from biotics and gunfire, but a well placed projectile from Garrus' rifle near the gaggle of the Guardians killed one and knocked the three others to the ground, exposing them to the incoming fire and biotics. The Guardians were quickly killed.

Leaning out of cover Shepard surveyed the hall and the large opening in the wall where the Cerberus reinforcements had come through. No one else entered the hall.

"It looks clear. Alright, on me." Shepard called out. "Let's move up."

The team joined Shepard and continued on through the rubble of the building.

From behind Shepard, Garrus finally took the time to ponder the revelation that the bomb was turian in the first place, something he had no prior knowledge about despite being high up in the turian chain of command. Shepard had been right; he was too close to the human for the hierarchy to readily divulge such sensitive information. And Lieutenant Victus was also right, if the information leaked to the krogan, or if it detonated, it could spark a war and the alliance would be doomed despite Wrex being in charge. His krogan friend were more level-headed then most krogan and could think outside the box, but if this turned into a slaughter of the krogan people, even Wrex would demand blood. The struggle against the Reapers would fail.

Garrus contemplated troubled, "We unleashed the genophage on the krogan and to top it off we plant a giant bomb on their planet. It's pretty extreme, but those were desperate times."

Liara lamented sorrowfully as she took in the damage done to Tuchanka during the course of history, "I wasn't around during the Rebellions, but I can't fathom the need for such a bomb in the first place."

"They did what they had to," Vega chimed in strongly. He thought about the turian actions and said, "Maybe humanity has more in common with the turians than I thought."

Garrus glanced at Vega who walked next to him, he almost snorted as he knew about the destructive history of humanity, "I don't know if that's a compliment or not James."

Vega shrugged, "I'm just saying. Despite our...tumultuous first contact, we're pretty much alike when it comes to the military part. Humans are pretty apt at destruction as well."

"I don't know if that's a good thing, Lieutenant." Shepard said up front as he cleared a corner with his rifle at the ready.

Tarquin radioed in and interrupted their conversation, _"Commander, Cerberus is putting up a fight, but we're pressing on."_

"Good work Lieutenant. We're enroute as well."

* * *

Shepard's team advanced through the building, encountering Cerberus squads of troopers, Centurions and engineers as they had set up defensive bottlenecks to try and stop them, but the diverse team of combat experts under Shepard's command defeated the Cerberus squads in their path.

The 9th platoon didn't fare as well, receiving heavy mortar and small arms fire at one point and sustained casualties before they could find cover. A second turian UCAV had showed up in the area and offered its services and pin pointed the Cerberus mortar teams and attacked those with air-to-ground missiles. But despite the air support, Tarquin's group had suffered six casualties before they defeated the Cerberus attackers and took an alternate route through a ruined building in order to circle around to the bomb site.

From the Normandy in orbit, EDI had successfully patched into the Cerberus communications channel and had learned that the detonation sequence was nearly complete and that all available Cerberus units had been ordered to delay Shepard's team and the 9th platoon. Time was of the essence.

The UCAV had soon depleted its weapons and had to leave the area and another one was on its way, but the overlapping transition time wouldn't be as long this time.

* * *

Shepard led the others through a walkway were a part of the floor had collapsed down to the bottom of the building, creating an inclined ramp. In the court yard below there was a Cerberus defensive position with portable cover systems on the ground.

Vega and Shepard were on point as they headed down the inclined floor and at the same time a Cerberus squad of four troopers swarmed the position below and took cover behind the shields. They quickly opened fire at the two Alliance soldiers as they ran down.

"Contact! Run!" Shepard shouted and hurried down with Vega in tow, the others on the walkway darted back to cover so they could provide cover fire.

Shepard and Vega cleared the path and darted to cover behind some rubble, but a few stray rounds hit Shepard's shoulder padding which knocked him to the side and Vega got hit in the torso before they managed to slid in behind cover. Both grunted in pain as incoming rounds chipped away at the walls and rocks around them.

The four other team members behind them had taken up defensive position and fired down the court yard and thanks to their elevated position the Cerberus squad couldn't protect themselves from the incoming fire and they were soon lying dead on the ground.

"Targets neutralized," Garrus reported.

Miranda left cover and stopped at the edge of the inclined floor and asked concerned, "Is everyone alright?"

Down below Shepard and Vega was lying on the ground and Shepard turned to Vega, "Are you good to go LT?"

Vega grunted under his breath, "Yeah I'm fine Commander."

"Yeah, we're good down here." Shepard reported and rose up. He offered his hand to Vega and helped him up to his feet.

"Good, we're coming down." Miranda said relieved and led the others down.

Shepard and Vega left cover and waited for the others to joined them.

EDI's voice was heard in their earpieces, _"Commander, it seems that Cerberus is preparing to evac their forces from the immediate area."_

"Shit," Shepard cursed. "They're preparing to blow the bomb. EDI, inform Lieutenant Victus that he better hurry."

_"Of course Commander."_ EDI responded and shut down the communications channel.

Shepard activated his omni-tool and glanced at the map, they weren't far away from the bombsite, past the building they were in and it was less than 100 meters to trek.

"Time is wasting." Liara said.

Shepard agreed, "Yeah, let's move out."

The team quickly cleared the court yard and exited the building, in the distance past another court yard and a partially collapsed ramp leading upwards they saw an enormous two-legged structure of some kind holding onto a cylindrical device in the middle which was most likely the bomb, strobe lights on its side pulsated in a yellow tone. Above them Cerberus shuttles swarmed the area and descended past the ramp. The Cerberus evacuation was in full swing.

"We can get a better look of it up the ramp!" Liara noted.

"Agreed. Let's push it people!" Shepard called out.

Shepard's team hurried up the ramp were they indeed could see the structure much better. Bellow them there was a large hole in the ground were Cerberus had dug up the bomb now suspended some 40 meters above it. The Cerberus shuttles promptly left the area.

Liara stopped near Shepard and was flabbergasted, "I can't believe the bomb remained undetected for this long."

"It was likely buried so deep for it to stay hidden all these centuries." Shepard said.

Garrus chimed is as he took in the sight as well, "I hope Lieutenant Victus knows what he is doing. We won't get a second chance at this."

"A detonation below the surface would have sunk a large portion of the Kelphic Valley underground," Miranda noted and surveyed the area. "We can't get to the bomb from here; we need to find another way down."

Tarquin radioed in, _"Commander, we've entered the bombsite and we're moving to the control station."_

Shepard replied, "Copy that Lieutenant. We're above it and will try and find another way down."

Zaeed and Vega had taken up rear guard behind the others and were scanning for targets.

Zaeed noted a half-crumbled ladder on a nearby wall leading up to the second level, "Shepard, the only path away from 'ere is that ladder."

Shepard turned and noted it, "Right then. Let's see where it takes us."

Shepard and the others walked down from the ramp towards the ladder.

"You know, as soon as Cerberus figure out we're tinkering with the bomb they'll return," Garrus said.

"I know, this can get hectic." Shepard radioed the Normandy, "EDI, keep an eye on those shuttles if you can."

_"Affirmative Shepard, but they're flying nap of the earth and are difficult to track, but a likely hypothesis is that they're heading for a predetermined staging area outside the blast radius."_

* * *

After reaching the upper level Shepard and his team moved on and found their way down to the substructure of the building before they finally emerged outside with the bombsite in view.

At the control station, which wasn't more than a computer on top of a barrel amongst some rubble, Tarquin and his team was already in place. Sergeant Iduma was issuing orders to the soldiers as they fanned out in a defensive ring around the station. The turians had sustained casualties in the ambush and mortar bombardment, but Tarquin still commanded 20 highly skilled soldiers.

Tarquin holstered his Phaeston-rifle and was interfacing with the Cerberus control station. He'd been trained in the use of the ancient weapon system's computers but all those had been removed in favor of a modern setup by Cerberus, but it seemed as the Cerberus computers were only interfacing with the old tech and were still relying on the ancient technology. Tarquin had gone through a human language course during his officer's training and could a passable amount of English - which the Cerberus interface was using - but he activated his omni-tool instead and a translation program quickly changed the language input. But that was as much as he could do with Cerberus failsafe activated.

A turian solder saw Shepard's team closing in and alerted his fellow soldiers, "Friendlies coming through on our left flank."

Shepard hurried up to the platform and stopped near Tarquin, "Can you do this Lieutenant?"

The turned to face Shepard and said, "Cerberus has activated a firewall around the trigger mechanism to slow us down. I'll need to create a bypass. That'll take some time." But he added reassuringly, "Yes, despite the modern day interface it's old tech. I can do this."

EDI's chimed in and warned, _"Shepard, several Cerberus shuttles have turned around and are inbound on your location."_

"Alright EDI, thanks," Shepard said. "You better hurry Lieutenant, Cerberus is returning."

"You have to buy me some time Commander," Tarquin implored.

Shepard nodded, "We'll make sure you have the time you need Lieutenant."

Tarquin nodded appreciatively and turned to the computer, "Understood. Starting bypass." Tarquin turned to Shepard again and said thankfully, "And thank you for making sure I get this chance, Commander."

"Just make it right soldier," Shepard said before he radioed the Normandy, "EDI, where are the Cerberus shuttles?"

_"Current distance and closing is 2 kilometers. They're coming from the north."_

Shepard quickly glanced at his omni-tool and the heading. To the north of the platform there was a wide courtyard with metal beams supported on pillars running across it. The courtyard was littered with broken walls and slabs of concrete. For insertion via shuttles it was likely the best option as dismounted troops could advance towards the platform with solid cover.

Shepard turned to his team and began issuing orders, "Garrus, Zaeed; I need you two up here with your sniper rifles covering the northern courtyard. The rest of you are on me. We can't let Cerberus get past us."

Garrus and Zaeed acknowledged Shepard's orders and took up position behind some crumbled walls with their sniper rifles at the ready.

In their radios, a turian voice was heard, _"Spectre and Javelin Actual, Primus 2-1 on station. Orbiting westward at 8000. Ready for tasking."_

Shepard responded as he was now the on-scene commander, "This is Spectre Actual, if you can try and keep those shuttles of us it would be greatly appreciated."

_"Copy that Spectre."_

Sergeant Iduma hurried up to Shepard and said, "I'll detach a couple of soldiers for you Commander."

Shepard nodded, "Much appreciated, Sergeant."

Iduma turned and quickly pointed at six turian soldiers and ordered them to join Shepard. With his now augmented squad, Shepard led them towards the courtyard and dropped down the short fall from the platform. In the distance they could hear the engine sounds of Kodiak shuttles getting closer.

Shepard began issuing his orders, he would lead his own people while he let the six turians handle business as they saw fit, but Shepard did spread them out across several collapsed walls so they all could cover the courtyard ahead of them.

* * *

High in the sky the turian UCAV circled with its specialized sensors searching for targets. Onboard the _Ferrata_, the sensor-operator quickly detected the incoming Cerberus shuttles that converged on the courtyard. The sensor-operator prepared the attack and acquired a shuttle on his screen and released a missile which guided correctly towards its target below.

* * *

In the courtyard two shuttles had swarmed the area and were inserting troops. The two shuttles were hovering several meters above the ground as the troops used their jetpacks to control their descent to the ground. The Assault Troopers and Centurions quickly fanned out as the two defending squads attacked, using gunfire, biotics and grenades to keep the Cerberus squads from getting close to the platform were Tarquin worked hard to shut down the trigger mechanism.

Liara and Vega fired their weapons at a gaggle of Cerberus troopers, sending them scurrying for cover amongst the broken walls. The asari used her biotic abilities and unleashed a singularity to halt two troopers attempt to advance further, she then shot and killed one of them with her M9 Tempest. Vega who was next to her duly killed the other one with his rifle.

On the platform, Garrus and Zaeed alongside the turian group opened fire at the attackers. Being on an elevated position gave them a much needed tactical advantage as dozens of Cerberus troops pushed forward and they were exposed to the gunfire coming from the platform.

After decades of mercenary work, Zaeed had become an expert marksman. He methodically and quickly placed the crosshairs of his scope on his target and gently squeezed the trigger on his rifle to send a high-velocity round down range. After registering a hit he quickly switched to a new target and repeated the process until he had to reload his rifle, claiming several kills and injuring several others.

The two Cerberus shuttles which had unloaded the troops quickly left the area as a third shuttle emerged and descended over the court yard and the shuttle door opened, revealing a 12 man Cerberus squad inside readying themselves for insertion. Garrus aimed his rifle in the middle of the gaggle of enemies inside the shuttle and squeezed of a round. Despite the slow speed of the projectile it reached its target fairly quickly and detonated inside, killing a couple of troopers and injuring several others, a few fell out of the shuttle due to the explosive force of the projectile.

Garrus was about to fire a second round when the shuttle suddenly jolted in an explosion. The missile from the UCAV had penetrated the cockpit and detonated. The vehicle lost control and dropped down on the ground in a fiery explosion, killing everyone still inside and whoever on ground that was unfortunate enough to be caught in the crash.

In the courtyard, Shepard's squad and the turians were battling the dismounted Cerberus squads amongst the crumbled walls and rubble. Behind cover, Shepard and Miranda fired their weapons to suppress a Cerberus squad of four led by a Centurion who deployed a smoke screen to cover their advance. Relying on his thermal scope, Shepard saw the bulky mass of the Centurion as he darted from cover to cover to close the distance. Shepard fired several bursts from his rifle and the bullets tore through the Centurion's shields and with a final burst to the head, Shepard had killed the Centurion. He ducked down behind the wall and reloaded his rifle.

The smoke screen subsided and Miranda was now swiftly taking out enemies; she unleashed a warp attack at a partially exposed trooper which severely injured him, causing him to stagger and cry out in pain, unable to turn his weapon on the attacker. Miranda then raised her rifle and fired several bursts at the trooper and killed him. She quickly shifted targets and killed a second trooper before she took cover to reload.

Miranda's and Shepard's successful attack left one lone trooper in their sector, he peered out from behind cover and fired at them but was quickly killed by Vega who fired a explosive projectile at him; it detonated and knocked down the trooper, causing some severe injuries as he gasped on pain from behind a pillar. Vega dared the incoming fire to get a better view and finished of the trooper with a burst from his rifle.

Two more shuttles emerged, and despite receiving heavy small arms fire from the group on the platform the shuttles descended down over the courtyard to unload two more groups of 12 troops as the previously inserted Cerberus forces had almost been defeated by the joint turian/Normandy force defending the control station. And yet again a missile from the orbiting UCAV high above struck one of the Kodiak's in the engine bay which was enough to send it plummeting towards a metal beam and a pillar, crushing the construction in an explosion. The second Kodiak fared much better than his wingman and managed to insert a 12-man team before escaping the area. The newly arrived troopers and Centurions hurried into combat, attacking the defenders in the court yard, in an attempt to reach the platform.

* * *

Up on the platform, Tarquin's ears was ringing from the increasing crescendo of the gunfire coming from the team on the platform as well as the battle unfolding below. Typing away at the keyboard, Tarquin soon neared a breakthrough and the firewall was down, exposing the system.

Tarquin radioed Shepard relieved, "Commander, I'm through the firewall. I'm in."

_"Great job Lieutenant,"_ Shepard praised under duress.

With another press of a button, believing he'd disabled the trigger mechanism, a countdown was instead triggered and showed up on the screen.

"Spirits!" Tarquin cursed.

_"Lieutenant? What's going?" _Shepard asked surprised.

The screen began counting down from one minute.

The turian began typing away on the keyboard in an attempt to bypass the countdown, but no such luck.

Tarquin blurted out stressed, "Cerberus has hacked the trigger mechanism! It's set to detonate!"

_"Disarm it!"_

"I need to manually separate the trigger from the bomb Commander! I need to climb up the structure!"

Tarquin looked away from the screen and at one of the supporting legs of the structure keeping the bomb suspended high above the ground. Tarquin ran away from the computer to the support leg which had a simple ladder leading up the length of it. He started climbing the tall structure as fast as he could.

Tarquin arrived on top of the supporting leg but he wasn't at the bomb yet. He had to walk over to the round platform situated in the middle between the two supporting legs. The cylindrical device, which encased the bomb, was latched on to the platform and housed the trigger mechanism. The problem was that a small beam just a little wider then one of his boots was the only way over to the platform, and with the wind gushing hard at that height he could easily be knocked down and fall to his death.

But there was no other way across.

Lieutenant Victus stepped onto the beam and walked as swiftly as he could while trying to maintain his balance. It was a long way down and he tried his best not to look down.

The turian arrived on the platform and darted over and knelt down at a computer interface and typed at the keyboard, this would open the cover of the trigger mechanism in the center of the platform. The small cover opened and a cylinder was pushed out by a pneumatic mechanism. Tarquin rushed over and knelt down so he could unscrew the cylindrical lock counter-clockwise which then began releasing the four large clamps on the sides of the platform. The cylindrical device which encased the bomb would then be released from the structure and the bomb would remain inert.

Detonation averted.

Tarquin turned around to ensure that every clamp was released as intended, but the fourth clamp failed halfway, leaving it vertical, the ancient electrical mechanism had failed, sending sparks out of it.

_Damn it!_

Tarquin walked over to the side and looked down to the platform and the courtyard below. He could see the 9th Platoon fighting side by side with the Normandy team, keeping the last remnants of the Cerberus squads at bay.

The sacrifices of his men would be for naught if he failed now. The effort to rally the races would fail. His people and homeworld would be lost and the galaxy would be conquered by the Reapers.

There wasn't much more to do for Tarquin then to remove the locking cylinders inside the clamp itself. And doing so would mean...

Tarquin shook those thoughts and ran over to the clamp and climbed on top of it and slid down, grabbing onto two handrails on either side of a protective assembly cover. He released his hold on one of the handrails and grabbed the protective cover and ripped it off the clamp. He quickly let go of it and reached into the slot it had covered were several locking cylinders were inserted into sockets. It took all his strength in his left arm to keep hanging onto the handrail while he used his right arm to forcibly remove the cylindrical locking caps which there were three of. He removed the first one and threw it away and it fell towards the ground and the clamp tumbled back a bit, but it wasn't enough to release the device from the bomb. With the second cylinder removed Tarquin felt another thump as the clamp loosened its hold on the bomb.

_Only one more to go._

* * *

Below the structure the fighting raged on, despite the heavy losses the Cerberus troops pressed on with no regard for their own life, and no one got closer than the collapsed wall were Shepard's squad and the turian squad had bunkered down.

Shepard hadn't heard anything from Tarquin in almost a minute now. He didn't know how long that countdown was, but there couldn't be long until detonation.

After shooting several bursts at the advancing Cerberus squads, Shepard ducked back behind cover to reload, he radioed Tarquin and looked up the tall structure, "Lieutenant what's your status?"

To Shepard's dismay he saw Tarquin hanging on for dear life on one of the clamps. Shepard cried out into his mouthpiece, "Lieutenant!"

Tarquin looked down on the battle below and saw Shepard behind a wall in his distinct black-tinted armor. Tarquin transmitted proudly of doing his service to the turian people, _"Victory...at any cost Commander."_

Tarquin removed the last locking cap and the clamp let go of the platform with a violent jolt. Tarquin lost his grip on the handrail and fell. The large cylindrical device which had housed the bomb fell towards the deep hole in the ground where the bomb had been unearthed. The device disappeared underground and the impact shook the surface as the electrical machinery exploded by the sheer force of the impact.

* * *

The last Cerberus troops were defeated shortly after Tarquin's sacrifice. The 9th Platoon had suffered some light injuries during the battle but all those who had defended the platform survived. The atmosphere amongst the turians was that off satisfaction of completing the mission, but they also appeared somber over the death of their commander. Shepard thought that that was something of a contrast considering their attitude towards Tarquin Victus the day before. It seemed he had redeemed himself in their eyes. Sadly he had to die to do just that.

Sergeant Iduma was now in charge and had thanked Shepard and the others for their assistance. It didn't take long until the turian extraction forces arrived and ferried home the 9th Platoon whilst turian fighters did regular sweeps in an attempt to go after those Cerberus shuttles that had escaped the area. The pilots did report a few air-to-air kills before a couple shuttles escaped into FTL past the fleet in orbit.

Cortez had picked up Shepard's team and they were now enroute back to the Normandy. The team wanted to get out of their hardsuits but had to wait a little longer. At least they could remove their helmets. The ride back was in silence; Shepard contemplated what effect the revelation of the bomb being turian would have on Wrex and the krogan, but also Tarquin's sacrifice. He couldn't help but notice the change Tarquin had underwent since the failed insertion, and now he had sacrificed his life not only to save his platoon, but also the lifes of Shepard and his team as well as all the krogan living in the Kelphic Valley.

The silence was broken as Joker's voice was heard in the intercom, _"Commander? EDI picked up radio chatter from krogan forces planetside. It sounds they're actively engaging whatever Cerberus forces were still around, sweeping the area. I hate to be the guy who had to tell the krogan about that surprise package. Apparently the krogan are recovering the bomb."_

_So Wrex knows by now,_ Shepard thought. _This should be interesting to say the least._

"_Did you guys get out alright?"_ Joker asked concerned. _"It sounded like there was an ugly fight down there."_

Shepard lamented, "The turians lost men, including the Primarch's son."

"_Understood Commander. Joker out."_

Liara chimed in next to Shepard and reflected sadly, "I can't count the times I've watched friends risk everything for a cause. To see the Lieutenant die for us, for his platoon…it hits close to home."

Shepard's thoughts drifted to that of Kaidan and others he knew who had died in the past. Ever since this war started – which for Shepard began when they hunted Saren – there had been a lot of casualties, and even more so now. As sad as it had been seeing friends and allies perish for the cause, there were others out there dying at the moment.

He shook his head exhausted, "I'm tired of seeing people die; friends, allies and civilians alike."

Miranda who was seated across from Shepard said softly, "The Lieutenant's death is tragic, but his actions will preserve the peace between the krogan and turians. In the end saving millions. Maybe even more."

"I know Miranda; I'm just not in the mood for politics right now."

Miranda understood and gave him a considerate nod.

Shepard turned to Garrus who sat next to Liara, "What do you think of all this Garrus? You are a turian."

"He never hesitated. Whatever he was before is pointless; he'll be remembered for what he did today."

"His platoon seemed to have done a 180 since the botched insertion. What will others think?"

Garrus shrugged, "That's hard to say, sacrifice in war is expected by turians in general. He did us proud – he did his platoon proud - but we're a hard bunch to please. In our culture it's expected to live your life for the cause; society first, platoon first and so forth."

"Semper fi." Vega said in the corner.

Garrus nodded somber, "Yes, something like that."

* * *

The shuttle docked shortly with the Normandy. And after discarding his weapons Shepard, still in his armor, headed up to the CIC and headed straight for the QEC-room to report in with Admiral Hackett. The Admiral was sure to want to be informed as expeditious as possible. EDI connected to the Admiral and Shepard waited for the connection to be processed.

After a few moments, Admiral Hackett walked into view and greeted, _"Commander. We received a quick message from your helmsman. I got to say you did good job down there."_

"Thank you sir. You'll get a full report later."

"_Understood. Stopping that bomb will be one step further to ensure an alliance between the krogan and the turians. The situation is delicate as it is, we can't afford that kind of discord right now."_

"Agreed. Joker informed me that the krogan are recovering the bomb."

Hackett pondered, _"Hmm, doubtful they're going to let anyone else near it, and that likely includes the turians. Despite what was accomplished today it's a fragile situation. You better keep the peace between the two leaders onboard, nothing's solid at the moment."_

Shepard nodded, "I'm well aware of that Admiral."

From behind him, Shepard could hear an animated krogan voice arguing with Primarch Victus. It seemed both leaders had arrived in the War Room.

Hackett heard the ruckus as well, _"You better get on it Commander."_

"Will do sir."

"_Hackett out."_

Shepard turned and rushed out to the War Room and found Wrex and Victus arguing on the opposite side of the table from Shepard.

"We couldn't risk another galactic war with the krogan!" Victus vehemently spoke.

Wrex countered incredulous, "The genophage wasn't enough? You had to plant a bomb on my planet as well?"

Victus implored, but was still disturbed, "The decision was made centuries ago. So much has changed!"

Wrex snarled and gestured angrily, "Not enough to tell us about the bomb, coward!"

The crewmembers stationed in the War Room promptly left, afraid the argument would turn into a fight.

Shepard stopped on the opposite side of the centralized table and called out sharply which got their attention, "Hey! We can't let the past dictate. The Reapers are a threat to all of us and you want to fight over this? We need to work together, we have a chance here!"

Shepard walked over to the two leaders and continued, "Primarch, you had lost control over a bomb and failed to inform us properly. If you had told me earlier maybe we could have acted sooner. We're supposed to be allies here!" He stopped in front of them and locked eyes with the krogan, "And Wrex, you would have done the same damn thing in his shoes. Don't try to act innocent here; we all know what the krogan did to the turians during the Rebellions!"

Wrex tried to protest, "Shepard-"

But Shepard would have nothing to do with it and pressed on unfazed, "The turians lost seven men down there – including the Primarch's son – making this situation right, and ensuring there's an alliance between you two! I thought you could think outside the box Wrex! No turian today was even alive when that decision was made to plant that bomb there!"

Victus implored to still the argument, "Please Commander…it's all right."

"Yes, fine you made your point Shepard," Wrex said bothered, "We have stronger enemies to face."

Shepard agreed and said much calmer, "We do."

Wrex sighed irked and walked away to the other side of the table to gather his thoughts,

"I understand your reservations before Commander, but I hope you understand the need for secrecy earlier." Victus said.

Shepard said evenly, "I do Primarch, I really do. If this had gone out of hand it could have shattered everything we're trying to build. But with all due respect, secrets gets people killed when they try to solve a problem. You have learned that the hard way today."

Victus nodded afflicted, "Yes Commander. It's the hardest lesson I've ever had to learn." Victus continued saddened, "My son died with the respect of his men, I want to thank you for that Commander. His sacrifice will be recorded in the histories of the 9th Platoon and the 12th Barritus Regiment. Something any father would be proud of."

Shepard nodded, "Yes sir."

Shepard was surprised when he saw Mordin suddenly entering the War Room and walked down the steps.

_Please, no bad news Mordin_, Shepard implored quietly.

"Ah, good. All here." Mordin began rapidly explaining, "Results promising, can synthesize for universal krogan immunity."

_Thank God,_ Shepard thought relieved. _Finally some good news in all this._

Victus turned to study the salarian professor. He too was relieved that they finally neared a breakthrough in all this. Palaven was hurting.

This got the attention of Wrex who turned to watch the others, "Good, then you can put the knife away."

"Are you saying the cure is ready?" Shepard asked.

Mordin shook his head, "No. Still need transmission vector. Cure useless until given to entire species."

"Do you have any ideas? You are usually full of them. You altered it to begin with and dispersed the modification."

"Yes, of course, there are always possibilities. But time is of the essence. Can't create new infection strain from scratch. " Mordin began listing off options out loud, the need to her himself think to maximize a prompt result, "Groundwater? No, to slow. Voluntary inoculation risky; populace to scattered for airborne. Unless…" Mordin's eyes widened and he exclaimed excited, "Wait! Yes!"

_Always trust Mordin to come up with something quickly,_ Shepard thought delighted.

"The Shroud would be the best means of dispersion. Other means would take to long."

"And what is the Shroud exactly?" Shepard asked.

Mordin walked over to a computer on the war table and began pressing buttons on the keyboard as he explained, "A tower-like salarian construct, several dotted Tuchanka to stabilize atmosphere in the past, now only one remains. It constantly disperses air particles to counteract the radiation damage after nuclear war. Ideal for cure dispersion."

A holo of the Shroud appeared in the center of the table and Mordin stopped typing on the keyboard.

"Made by salarians you say?"

Mordin nodded, "Yes, when uplifting of the krogan began, advanced technologies was given to the krogan in exchange for them to help with the Rachni. Such technologies impressed the krogan and it was easy to gain their support in the war." Mordin glanced at Shepard and said cautiously, "Also used by turians."

Shepard explained, "We already had a…diplomatic confrontation just recently. I hope to avoid another one."

"Ah yes, crewmembers quickly exiting earlier indication of argument." Mordin said.

Shepard glanced at Victus who was standing near Mordin's side and looking at the holo.

"It was used to secretly spread the genophage," Victus explained.

Wrex snorted on the opposite side and narrowed his eyes on Victus, "At least you are coming clean now turian." He continued annoyed, "I'd still be careful who you tell that to."

"Those were desperate times," Victus said regretfully.

Mordin interjected rapidly, "Yes, yes. But useful now. The storage at the Shroud still contains the original genophage strain. Can use that as a transmission vector and then the Shroud will be used to disperse the cure."

Wrex chuckled as he glanced at the holo of the Shroud, "You clever little pyjak. That's our best shot, right there."

Shepard turned to Mordin, "Then you have your job cut out for you Mordin."

Mordin glanced at Shepard, "Of course, will start now. Will inform when properly prepared the compound."

* * *

_**Chapter title blatantly taken from a Steve Jablonsky track on the Transformers (2007) soundtrack.**_

_**Quotes: Chuck (episode: Chuck versus the Gobbler), Aliens (slightly changed) **_

_**Winchester: military slang for out of weapons/ammunition.**_

_**Thanks for the reviews! **_

_**I tried to make this a little different from the game, but I'm also saving my stamina for the Tuchanka-finale, so you have to take this for what it is.**_

_** Darkstar1406 and concerning EDI's mobile platform: Sorry. I spaced the Cerberus body quite early on. EDI will not take possession. I wasn't thoroughly enthusiastic about the relationship between Joker and EDI, even if you as the player can persuade them to keep it platonic. EDI does have some interesting dialogue and a unique POV on things, but that can still be used with a few changes. **_

**_And if you are going to do that AI/organic romance-plot, which can be interesting, you've to explore it more than they did in the game. That can be blamed on the corners BW cut. I could have developed it, but I don't think of myself as that the great of a writer, plus it's not something I'm interested in writing as much as for instance Miranda/Shepard. _**

_**Bottom line; I preferred EDI as she was in ME2.**_

**_Edited 2013-02-26: I added a poll to my profile to let peoples "voice" be heard if you want me to add Javik or not. I'm still not 100% sure, which maybe isn't the best incentive for you readers to vote :), but you can read my reasoning on the author notes of chapter 28 on why Javik hasn't been added yet. The vote will run until after the Tuchanka-finale so lot's of time to go. _**

**__****_Edited 2013-03-02: Made grammatical fixes and changes.  
_**


	32. The Calm Before the Storm

Miranda was swept away in waves of lust and passion and she let out a long deep gasp as her eyes fluttered close. Her lover below arched his back and a contended exhale left his lungs. Miranda slowed down only the slightest to savor the moment after they hit their peak; she opened her eyes and looked down with a triumphant smirk, resting her hands on his toned abdomen. Shepard's eyes were closed and he rested his hands on her hips and gently caressed her skin while his torso was heaving up and down as he tried to calm down. Miranda was also breathing heavily but her heart rate began to return to normal.

Her genes were hard at work in order for her to regain her composure.

Miranda lowered herself over Shepard and kissed him deeply as she tried to express exactly what she felt for him through her lips. Shepard wrapped his arms around her and reciprocated the kiss. Miranda felt happiness overcome her in his embrace. It was only them, nothing else was present; no war, no problems. It was just that moment.

Miranda slowly sucked on his lower lip while she pulled back. They both opened their eyes and Shepard chuckled at her antics.

"Goddess..." Shepard whispered when he began to regain the ability to talk coherent again.

Miranda brushed her lips against his and grinned self-confident, "Well, yes. But you can still call me Miranda."

Shepard chuckled again, "Very considerate of you."

"Mh-hmmm." Miranda moved to kiss his shoulder where he had taken several bullets in the shoulder-padding the day before. Now a dark bruise was visible.

She asked softly, "Does it hurt?"

"No."

Miranda slid of Shepard and lied down next to him as close as she could, and continued kissing his shoulder and up to his neck before she stopped and rested her head on his shoulder while she slowly caressed his torso with her fingers. Shepard caressed her back while they remained quiet for some time, basking in their company and aftermath of their love making.

She had always disliked not being able to control what was going on, and their little suicide mission the day before proved that. As reality had sunk in after their return to the Normandy, Miranda had begun to ruminate the countdown on the bomb. That feeling of helplessness as their impending doom neared second by second scared her. Combat was nothing compared to that paralyzed moment, and that minute of fear before the bomb had been taken care of was horrific. And it was also difficult for her to see John being shot at.

After their return to the Normandy she was more than a little distressed but what better way to relieve stress than having sex?

All that stress had been released by now. Or rather the night before, but there was nothing wrong with morning sex either.

Miranda propped herself on her free arm and glanced over Shepard and noted the time on the clock on the night stand. Shepard gave her a curious look. They were once again past breakfast time, a regular occurrence it seemed. But being the command element onboard they could pretty much do things as they saw fit.

"What?" Shepard asked while taking in her scent with a breath.

Miranda shook her head and looked down on Shepard, "It's nothing. I just wanted to know the time. We have missed breakfast again." She smiled, "Not that it matters, I rather stay here for a while longer."

Shepard grinned, "Garrus made a comment about that yesterday actually. He believed you had kicked me out of bed when I showed up for breakfast."

Miranda teased, "As long as you are naughty you won't be kicked out."

"Imagine if I..." Shepard grinned, "If I was a good boy and you kicked me out. And it's lonely, cold and you are freezing. Would it be acceptable if I pay for my transgression by serving as a cheap source of heat?"

Miranda propped both her arms on Shepard's sides and hovered above him while her lips brushed against his. She locked eyes with him and smirked mischievously, "That's acceptable. But you will be providing more than passive heat. Friction will be involved. I'm after all only using you for my own sexual needs. If you are pleasured or not is not a concern of mine."

"The sole purpose why you put me back together right?"

"Exactly." She planted a soft kiss on his lips. "My own personal sex toy."

Shepard chuckled, "I should be offended really."

Miranda taunted with mirth in her eyes, "I agree. If you were more of a man you would not accept that."

Shepard said mock-seriously, "You need to face the truth, that you can't imagine living without your _'sex toy'_."

Miranda was stumped. She apparently didn't catch on to his teasing.

She hadn't really considered the possibility that John was in fact using sex like that. She'd assumed that-

Her lover below her burst into a fit of laugher.

Miranda frowned and pulled back from him. She sat up next o him and she swatted his torso playfully, "You ass."

Shepard sat up and smirked. He purposefully moved closer and wrapped one arm around her slender body to draw her closer. He moved his other hand to the back of her head and let his fingers slide through her dark hair. Miranda closed her eyes and slowly started to breathe heavily and slid her arms around Shepard's neck as he started kissing her jawline, moving to her ear.

Shepard's warm breath was against her skin as he whispered, "You think I'm under your control, when it's actually the other way around." Then he started to kiss below her ear and bit her neck gently.

She responded with a content sigh because of his ministrations. Another rush of pleasure spread through Miranda, and her mind was drowsy. But she cursed Shepard; he was using her own tactics against her.

Finally she said playfully, "Shut up." She could feel a mischievous smile spread on his lips against her neck and he gave her one last kiss on the neck before he pulled back and lied down on the bed.

He plopped his head down on the pillow and looked up at her and taunted, "You know it's true."

Miranda regained her composure and grinned as she came to terms with his assertion. She moved her hand to his torso and let a finger slowly slide down to his abdomen and said playfully, "Well…it is true. But I'm so much of a woman that you can't resist me and I make sure of that."

Shepard asked surprised, "You actually listened to me?"

Miranda nodded and mused, "I can't quite believe it myself."

She turned and found the bed sheet on the other side of the bed where it had been discarded earlier. Miranda grabbed it and pulled it over them as she snuggled close to Shepard again.

Miranda planted a soft kiss on Shepard's cheek and said with a warm smile, "Much better."

Shepard slid his arm under the curvature of her body and caressed the end of her back as she returned to rest her head on his shoulder again. They were quiet for a while again before she propped her arm on the bed and leaned her head against her hand so she could look into Shepard's eyes. Part of the bed sheet fell away and revealed her naked chest.

"Tell me something," She said.

Shepard turned his attention to her, "Uh, that's a pretty broad statement. Something specific?"

Miranda pondered for a while until she settled on a question, "Tell me something about _you_. How did you go from juvenile delinquent to decorated Alliance officer?"

Shepard looked at her curious, "Don't you know everything about me?"

Miranda rolled her eyes playfully and said sardonically, "Yes, why would I take interest and want to talk about you?"

"Fair point," Shepard said with a faint smile.

"And there's a difference between official Alliance reports and hear you talk about it. Only so much can be divulged from reports."

Shepard was silent for a few moments to gather his thoughts and Miranda waited patiently.

Finally he said, "I think it actually says juvenile delinquent in my official bio online. Fancy word I guess. Well, I jumped around from foster home to foster family in Vancouver until around 13. I was angry. Angry with my birth parents, other kids, the lack of hope for the future. Everything angered me." Shepard shrugged, "And for a while the foster parents cared. They even understood. But eventually they weren't as understanding anymore and wanted me to move on. But soon enough they got tired of the angry kid, so I was sent to a federal foster home during the summer break from middle school."

Shepard chuckled humorlessly, "That didn't last very long. I ran. Ended up in the streets and in order to survive I ran with a gang until I neared 18. Did some stupid stuff; harassed people, broke into homes, fenced stolen goods, robbed people, beat them up, and did some drug deals. But a voice inside always told me I would eventually end up in jail or get killed. So by 18 I enlisted. I'm surprised they accepted me because I'm not sure I was considered much of a _'good moral character' _at the time. But I had stayed under the radar; so much of what I did had not been put on any record."

This wasn't really news to Miranda, but it made her reflect upon her own upbringing. Even though she had it difficult with her father pushing her to meet impossible standards, she at least had a roof over her head, food and the best education money could buy.

Miranda asked softly, "Were you ever contacted by your birth parents?"

Shepard explained evenly, "Well after Elysium, and also after the Battle of the Citadel, the Alliance was swarmed by requests from people who pretended to be my birth parents. Attention seekers the lot of them. Not that it would've mattered. It is tempting sometimes to entertain the possibility, but believing that anything good could come out of is usually an illusion. No, I don't want to have anything to do with them. They left me at birth and then they contacted me when I became a 'star'? The sad thing is, that if they were the kind of people I would want to find, they would probably come to the same conclusion and wouldn't contact me."

Miranda placed her free hand on his torso again and caressed gently with her fingertips and said softly, "You took control of your life and excelled, you made something out of yourself."

Shepard smiled and protested softly, "See, you know everything about me. Why do you want to talk about it?"

Miranda ordered kindly, "Nonsense. Continue. Tell me something you did as a teen." She planted a soft kiss on his lips.

Shepard pondered his past, "Well...hmm. A friend and I, we had a hacking device with a credit chit wired to it. We slid that thing into an ATM and we could swipe hundreds of bucks from accounts."

Miranda giggled, "Very resourceful. See? That I didn't know."

"No you didn't," Shepard smiled.

"So, from stealing money from ATM's you eventually ended up in the Systems Alliance Naval Academy. Quite a leap wouldn't you say?" Miranda smiled.

"Definitely. The Alliance saw my high leadership scores and encouraged me to apply to the Academy. But I had to complete a GED-test first; the Academy requires a high school diploma from applicants. I really felt out of place to start with and that level of academia was very demanding, nothing I'd ever experienced. But I wasn't going to let that deter me because I wanted that officer commission."

Miranda flashed him one of her sexy smiles which was reserved only for him, "You are very driven, and I like that."

"Do you now?" Shepard asked with a grin.

"Mh-hmmm." Miranda moved closer and said in between the soft kisses she planted on his lips, "Handsome. Capable. Smart."

Shepard said with some bluster, "I have two master's degrees as well."

Miranda pulled back a bit and giggled, "I know. I think a smart man is very sexy. So points in your favor."

Shepard grinned and he cupped her face and drew her closer for a deep kiss, Miranda eagerly lost herself in it and both of them moaned of satisfaction.

Shepard pulled back and plopped his head back on the pillow. He lovingly caressed her back and lamented, "I would want to stay some more, but it's time to get back to business."

"Yes. You are right," Miranda said disappointed but understood that they eventually had to leave the bed. A selfish part of her wanted for one day just to be John and Miranda with no worries or obligations other than themselves.

Shepard quipped with a grin, "I'll shower first, otherwise it'll take forever before you are done."

Miranda gave him a mock-glare, "A lady needs to look her best."

Shepard chuckled, "But you take too long." He leaned up and captured her lips in a soft kiss before he slipped out of bed and strolled away.

* * *

The mess hall was empty and Miranda and Shepard was sharing breakfast. Miranda enjoyed eating breakfast alone with Shepard rather than when others were present. It was quiet; they could relax a bit and enjoy each other's company. In the past she had always preferred to eat breakfast alone.

No. Miranda changed her mind; it was because she had been lonely and it had actually nothing to do with any kind of preference of eating alone at all.

In the infirmary Miranda noted that Mordin was busy with finalizing the cure, and Eve was nowhere to be seen. It seemed to Miranda that Mordin didn't need her presence anymore. Miranda could sense that they would have yet another mission on their hands very soon, releasing the cure. They had been running a lot of missions this past week, although she was far from exhausted she did hope for at least one day without combat. And concerning the genophage, she still had her concerns, and she'd explained those to Shepard. Even he had some concerns, but for the sake of the war effort, curing the genophage appeared to the best course of action.

She just hoped they wouldn't regret it in the future.

Soon enough they finished breakfast and put away the dish- and kitchenware in the dishwasher. Shepard had business to attend to in the CIC and left Miranda in the mess hall and hurried away after a quick kiss. Miranda began to plan for what she would do the coming hours, most likely writing reports and reviewing reports from the department heads, but she felt the urge to bring something with her to their quarters and spent a few minutes rummaging through the fridge. She found a bowl and settled on filling it with grapes and she also grabbed a couple of bottles of water.

From the Forward Battery, Garrus emerged and walked through the corridor to the Mess Hall. He noticed Miranda in the kitchen and remembered what Shepard had asked about the day before and decided to start his mission. He was definitely a little curious if she really was approachable, at best the two of them had a co-worker relationship, they rarely talked outside the missions, but he did know some things about her since Shepard and he had helped her over a year earlier securing her sister's transit off Nos Astra. Although that would probably not be the best conversation opener, that much he suspected. But if his friend wanted his help, he'd provide it to the best of his abilities.

Garrus walked down the steps and stopped at the counter behind the human, "Hi Miranda."

The woman in question turned and flashed him a cordial smile, "Hello Garrus." Miranda returned her attention to her bowl of fruit.

The turian strolled forward and opened the fridge and found a bottle of water as well, prepared for turians of course. Which meant that they were free of any bacteria that could be harmful to dextros. He screwed of the cap and took a sip, glancing at the bowl of fruit.

"What are those?" Garrus asked and closed the fridge.

Miranda plopped one into her mouth, "Grapes. Delicious I might add...well, if you can eat them. You can for example make wine from them. Maybe turians have something similar?"

Garrus pondered, "Well, we make wine from berries called Uva." He shrugged, "They're alright."

"I see," Miranda nodded and plopped another one into her mouth.

"This business with the bomb was interesting."

"Hmph. It certainly was," Miranda said bothered but continued evenly, "But I wouldn't have minded a little more openness from the Primarch, but you can't blame him for being careful either I guess."

"Considering your past with Cerberus," Garrus began cautious, "How do you think they found out about the bomb?"

Miranda leaned on the counter behind her to face Garrus, "Well didn't the Lieutenant say there was some security breach at your intelligence service? The Illusive Man do have a vast information network and our-" Miranda corrected herself with a humorless chuckle, "_Their_ network division have some of the best cryptanalysts and super computers money can buy."

"Better information network than the Shadow Broker?"

"Cerberus does have a lot of contacts across the galaxy amongst the races, they have mastered the ability to manipulate people - I should know I might add - but the Broker, regardless of who might be in charge, has been around far longer than Cerberus and has a well established network of contacts."

"Maybe they used indoctrination?" Garrus asked.

"Mordin seems to think indoctrination was involved during the attack on the STG-base. But it could also be as simple as one lone salarian that was either manipulated into aiding Cerberus or just felt the need to get rid of Eve. Simply a misguided individual who didn't want too 'jeopardize' his people and the galaxy for the possibility of another Rebellion. Maybe something similar happened at your intelligence service, or maybe some of that technology found on Cerberus troops was implanted in the agents that provided intel about Sur'Kesh and Tuchanka."

Garrus mused, "The salarians haven't divulged anything about their investigation into the attack. Wonder if they will?"

Miranda shrugged, "I don't know, but it hasn't even been a week so how much could they've learned? Regardless, security breaches are never good, and we still need to be careful, but we will deploy the cure soon enough. Hopefully without problems."

"What do you feel about that?" Garrus asked curious.

"The cure? I don't know Wrex like you and John does. Both he and Eve seem benevolent, but I just hope it won't backfire after the war. End one war and a new one arises. And will we have the resources to continue fighting anew? Let's just hope it won't come to that."

"It certainly is complicated, but with what we're facing we have to risk it."

Miranda nodded and mused, "Yes but there are many unknown variables."

"So I guess we're at war with Cerberus now. No qualms?"

Miranda ate a few grapes and shook her head, "None. The Illusive Man made his intentions known when he wanted to preserve the Collector base. And seeing how John operates, treating those under his command like they are more than just tools. It fostered a far deeper sense of loyalty than I've ever seen in my days with Cerberus. It's...been an eye-opener. Despite the nature of the mission, he made me feel like I was no longer expendable."

"I've got to admit, I was surprised when you dismissed the Illusive Man and handed Shep the detonator."

Miranda smiled faintly, "Well, John does have an influence on people. He had on me."

Garrus nodded, "He inspires people. I've worked with officers, both C-SEC and the military, which I wouldn't even follow into a puddle of water. But John? I'd follow him anywhere. He commands from the front."

Shepard always found a way to...convince people. Garrus himself had been dead set on revenge and killing Sidonis, but of course his friend had talked him out of it and Sidonis was spared.

Miranda snorted playfully, "Not when he ordered Liara, Vega and me to take that bunker on Tuchanka."

Garrus chuckled, "We did support you with some accurate and deadly fire."

Miranda grinned, "Ah yes. And I've heard about your love affair with your rifle."

Garrus chuckled and protested, "Hey, it's a thing of beauty."

From the other side of them a salarian voice was heard, "Ms. Lawson. Garrus."

Garrus turned and grinned, "It's good to see you alive and kicking Mordin. Finding new ways to cause trouble I hope."

"Hello Mordin," Miranda greeted friendly.

Mordin walked around the counter and stopped nearby. He flashed a devilish grin, "Trouble is basic research when I am doing what I don't know what I am doing."

Miranda laughed good-heartedly at Mordin's comment.

Garrus said deadpanned, "Like always then."

Mordin continued jovial about his work, "Science is key to advancement, and I must test hypothesis and make observations before I can accurately come to a conclusion."

"That we haven't all died in one of your crazy experiments is a miracle," Garrus quipped.

Mordin countered, "I'm quite confident that the risk to anyone is negligible."

"If you say so," Garrus responded tongue-in-cheek.

Mordin took a sharp breath and continued serious this time, "Heard about mission groundside yesterday. Unfortunate if bomb had detonated."

"Oh I agree, we were standing right next to it," Miranda explained.

"That it was a turian construct certainly was a surprise." Mordin glanced at Garrus, "And you didn't know? Essential mission information that needed to be provided to the team. Personally don't like going into mission blind if it can be helped."

Garrus agreed, "I think so to Mordin. If you are going to risk your life, such details should be revealed to your allies. That I hadn't been briefed clearly shows that the hierarchy don't fully trust me. Or maybe I'm not high enough on the food chain as I think."

"They feel you are 'compromised' considering your friendship to John," Miranda surmised.

Garrus nodded, "Yes, or they know I'm not a 'good turian'. I'd likely vehemently protest at something. Good turians don't really do that, they salute and do what they're told without too much fuss."

Miranda turned to Mordin and asked, "How is the cure coming along Mordin?"

Mordin smiled, "Ah, very good. Should be ready tomorrow sometime. Synthesize takes time without proper lab equipment, but it will be done and work as advertised."

"Good to hear. And I wouldn't mind having at least one day without combat," Miranda mused. "It seems we've been running missions every day since our arrival here."

"No rest for the weary." Garrus pointed out.

"Hmm. Yes." Miranda said. She glanced at Mordin as she had noted earlier that Eve wasn't in the infirmary and asked, "Where's Eve?"

"As I'm synthesizing the cure I'm in no need of her presence all the time so I've released her from her obligation to be in the infirmary. Eve said she likes to sit in the starboard observatory to look at Tuchanka."

Miranda pondered, "I can imagine that from out here, looking down on your homeworld is a way of reminding oneself what we're doing and what can be lost if we fail."

* * *

Shepard was doing his daily rounds and was hovering at a computer on the centralized-table in the War Room, going through the latest intelligence updates and read up on the latest battle plan for the massed fleet in the system. It was an impressive amount of firepower actually and he was confident that the fleet would hold its ground if attacked.

One of the reports he was reading detailed the sudden appearance of Reaper troop transport ships the other day and that those ships had been quickly destroyed. Intelligence analysts were concerned over the sudden surge of these transports and noted that it could be a prelude to a major Reaper attack. And this had Shepard concerned as well. If the Reapers had been unaware of the build-up of forces in the Aralakh-system, they sure knew of it now.

Traynor's voice was heard from the intercom, _"Commander. I've an urgent call from Dalatrass Linron waiting in the QEC-room."_

"Understood Traynor, I'll take it immediately." Shepard responded and walked away from the computer and up the stairs to the QEC-room.

"_Yes sir."_

Shepard was curious what the salarian wanted, although he dared to wager a guess; the genophage.

The holo had already been processed and Linron was waiting.

"Dalatrass?" Shepard asked as he stopped in front of the QEC.

"Commander. Let me get right to the point. We're aware of the build-up of human and turian forces in the Aralakh-system. I'm sure the release of a cure is not far away."

"You assume it is. One way or the other I'm not at liberty to divulge any operational details over an unsecure line Dalatrass." Shepard responded evenly.

Linron exclaimed incredulous, "Unsec-?!" She paused and sighed, "Commander, first our communications are as secure as they come, but more importantly; I urge you not to continue with what you are planning because of some misplaced pity for the krogan."

Shepard countered. "My position as well as that of the Alliance leadership is the same. Humanity needs the krogan. The turians need the krogan. We can't afford to turn down allies. A notion apparently lost on the salarians."

"I'm fully aware of the war situation," Linron responded bothered.

Shepard snorted, "Are you? It seems to me that the most obvious feature of opponents of the cure is that their capitals have yet experienced a Reaper invasion. The death toll on both Earth and Palaven alone are already in the hundreds of millions and the situation is deteriorating."

Linron implored, "I appreciate the suffering of your people, and the turians. But unleashing the krogan on the galaxy again won't solve anything. Don't let your friendship with Urdnot Wrex cloud your judgment."

Shepard sneered, "You shouldn't let your hatred for the krogan and your passé view of the galaxy cloud _your_ judgment, Dalatrass. We are all pressed against the wall. But even when facing extinction isn't enough to accept krogan support, what is?"

"Do you honestly think that curing the genophage will end in a lasting peace, Commander? What about my people?!" Scoffed the Dalatrass.

Shepard shook his head, "I am fully aware of the possible disastrous future consequences of a repeat of the Krogan Rebellion, but I am far more concerned by the immediate and far greater danger the Reapers pose."

"What will happen when the krogan start to reproduce out of control again? When they overpopulate planets? So you cure the genophage but what do you gain? Do you think the new generation that comes years from now will make a difference?"

"They will die on the front line, fighting against the Reapers, freeing our cities. Even if the krogan are beyond saving and your worst fears come to pass they will be able to channel their anger for now. But I'm afraid this will not be a war that can be won in a decade, and the corpses of many generations newborn krogan will litter the battlefields." Shepard sighed, "And if that's the case those krogan may be what allows us to maintain our ability to fight."

The Dalatrass was taken aback by this dark perspective of a lasting Reaper war but countered none the less, "And what if after repelling the Reapers they turn on us while still in our cities. We didn't uplift them for their diplomatic skills. Another war with them is inevitable."

Shepard said sternly "Then we will be ready. We can negotiate with the krogan, even if the only reason is because we can match their power. We cannot reason with the Reapers. By isolating the krogan you may very well push them into the arms of the enemy."

Linron warned annoyed, "Mark my words Commander. This alliance of yours will be short lived and will backfire on all of us and the moment we are at our weakest they will swarm the galaxy."

Shepard frowned, "I hope when the Reapers overrun the galaxy that you will hide under some rock, pop the champagne and celebrate saving us from the krogan." Shepard said sardonically, "Thank you for your words Dalatrass, I'll take them under advisement."

Linron snorted and gestured dismissively and walked out of view of the holo.

Shepard punched in a few buttons on the interface in front of him and shut down the communications feed.

He shook his head exasperated; he was tired of the salarian Dalatrass and her ranting.

Shepard turned around and exited the QEC and strolled down the steps in to the heart of the War Room. There he found Victus hovering over one of the terminals on the centralized table. Shepard decided to check in on the Primach who was no doubt keeping himself busy with something so he didn't need to think about the loss of his son.

Shepard approached him, "Primarch."

Victus looked up from the terminal and turned to Shepard. He gave him a solemn nod, "Commander. I'd like to thank you for your assistance with the mission on Tuchanka. The actions of the Normandy team and the 9th Platoon saved a lot of lives yesterday, and you also helped to secure the fragile alliance between the krogan and the turians."

"Of course Primarch. It'll be one of the important corner stone's in our struggle against the Reapers. This is for everyone's sake."

"I agree. I would also like to thank you again for ensuring that my son died with honor and the respect of his fellow soldiers. Any turian father would be proud. But this is war, and there will be time for mourning later."

Shepard said sincerely, "I'm sorry for your loss Primarch. I can honestly say that I noted a shift in him since the failed insertion. With time I believe he could have become a far better soldier, and in the end he never hesitated to do his duty. I'm sorry for your loss."

"Yes, thank you Commander. You humans have a saying I learned once; _'in peace, sons bury their fathers. In war, fathers bury their sons.' _It doesn't quite carry the same weight amongst turians, but it's still a depressing thought." Victus sighed, "But I know I'm not the first one to lose their child in this war."

"There's still a long struggle ahead."

Victus nodded, "Indeed, but I'm committed to stop the Reapers now Commander. Don't doubt that."

"Good to hear. Primarch. I just had a conversation with Dalatrass Linron; she seems troubled about the krogan intentions after the war if they're cured. What are your thoughts on this?"

"I certainly understand her doubts about this affair. But in the end it won't matter if we don't stop the Reapers. What was her mental state?"

Shepard shrugged, "About the same as during the summit. Nothing's changed. She's hung up on the genophage cure."

"Menae, the moon where you found me, was the last stand for my people during the Krogan Rebellions. It was brutal."

"What happened?"

Victus explained methodically, "The fighting was relentless but we knew the terrain and had the upper hand. But that didn't stop the krogan, they pushed and started to use asteroids as weapons, propelling them against Menae and Palaven, right at our populated areas. Our colonies elsewhere were hit in similar attacks. The death toll was staggering. In the end we had no other choice, we deployed the genophage. It was our last resort." Victus declared vigorously, "So yes, krogan intentions after the war will be a serious concern, but I'd rather have a grateful ally than a resentful enemy."

"I understand. I'm not trying to understate the possible menace that the the krogan pose. In fact in my opinion the genophage was a very tame reaction, considering," Shepard pointed out.

"Indeed. And your friend, Urdnot Wrex, seems to be of a savvy mind and reasonable for a krogan. More diplomatic then I expected. But he's still a krogan, so we'll see if he caves to pressure from those seeking revenge or if he can do something else."

"The krogan will want reparations after the war. Planets most likely. Maybe even financial reparations as well."

Victus nodded, "Yes, Garrus and I had such a discussion a while back. I think it's reasonable to expect. The krogan need to squeeze everything out of the good-will they earn after the war. Otherwise they might never leave Tuchanka. It wouldn't surprise me if they wanted in on the Council as well in the aftermath of all this. Or at least an embassy. It could be the way to mend any thoughts of revenge so I've got no initial reservations. But a krogan population explosion does worry me a bit. Hopefully history won't be repeated as the krogan was unable to take care of their worlds in the long run."

"We on the other hand need to make sure they don't feel wronged, or we may bury our only chance for peace. But in the end we will notice if it's all an attempt to take what they deserve, or an attempt at a power grab. I'd like not to fight another war because of the krogan. Eve - the female - does say she intends to do everything in her power to help steer the krogan down another path. I'm cautiously optimistic."

Victus agreed, "Let's hope the krogan can do something good out of all this for themselves."

Shepard pondered, "Considering the turians past with the krogan, they make curious allies in all this."

"But we can't let the mistakes of our past cloud the future. Your race and mine was once at war. The First Contact War you call it. I was there, dodging shells from your Navy." Victus paused for a moment before he declared proudly, "But now we're fighting side by side, standing inside the hull of a warship designed by both turians and humans alike. And it seems that you and Garrus are the closest of friends. Our races have come a long way these past decades."

"We sure have Primarch Victus. I will remind Wrex about the importance of managing krogan expectations. It might be very tempting to try to keep their support by just making promises for the future. But overdoing it may end in disaster. Hopefully we'll have the beginnings of an alliance against the Reapers soon enough."

"Agreed. The fighting on Palaven is getting bad and we do need the krogan. And then there's Earth. If we accomplish our mission here, we will help Earth."

"Thank you Primarch." Shepard sighed and mused gloomily, _I only hope we will even have a chance at that. _He was about to leave, "It was good talking to you. I've matters to attend to."

"Yes, I do to. I'm going over the final preparations with my fleet for the upcoming release of the cure. We'll interface with your fleet and be prepared to support the genophage cure. The Reaper ground forces on Tuchanka are troubling news."

* * *

Councilor Udina walked with a fast pace through the Council Chambers, he gave his omni-tool a cursory glance; it was five in the morning. Thankfully the Presidium incorporated a 20-hour day cycle with a simulated day/night-shift, so it gave its inhabitants some resemblance of a shifting day, and after years of working on the Citadel Udina had effectively shifted his internal 24-hour clock to the mandated 20-hour day. But being the human councilor still required one to be an early riser regardless of what time cycle was implemented.

_Thank God for high caffeine coffee._

Udina cleared the steps to the audience chamber were Udina turned to the left to a small antechamber leading into the Council's private conference room. He walked past two armed C-Sec guards in the lobby who greeted the Councilor as was customary. Udina, who had very demeaning thoughts about the little people, returned the gesture in a hurry as he always did; privately he couldn't care less if menial servants greeted him or not. Udina entered the conference room which was still empty; the other representatives had yet arrived.

_Just as well, then I can prepare._

The human walked over to the computer interface on the table end and slid the OSD into it and prepared the presentation of the 'evidence'. He might have Williams in his hand, but it was still necessary to influence the others on the Council. At least to such a degree that they would become skeptical of Shepard. Still, the man's performance thus far could present a problem, but that was expected. But the presence of someone associated with Cerberus onboard the SR-2 was potentially damaging enough.

The problem was Admiral Hackett and the remains of Alliance Command; Hackett was a Shepard-confident and with the rest of the Alliance leadership they would undoubtedly want to keep and resolve this matter internally if they learned of it. The fallout itself from any leak would be difficult for Hackett to minimize - and even spinning a perspective favorable to Shepard would be problematic -, but keeping it within the Council would allow things to move smoother until the Citadel-operation would start in earnest.

The minutes ticked by and the other Council members arrived to the meeting which Udina had called for. They all cordially greeted each other and the three aliens sat down at the round table across from Udina.

"What's this all about, Udina?" Quentius asked curiously.

"Indeed." Esheel said.

"I'll get right to the point; as you all know the Alliance carried out an extensive debriefing of Shepard after his return from dealing with Cerberus. Alliance Intelligence did find pieces of information that even with the limited information at hand was very interesting."

Udina paused and pressed a button on the keyboard and on the wall behind him the 'Alliance Intelligence' files on Miranda was shown.

The other Councilors looked curiously at the projection.

"A human female?" Irissa asked dubious.

Quentius was about to say something but Udina quickly interjected, "Yes. Miranda Lawson, born 2150 on Earth. She apparently was the mastermind behind bringing Shepard back from the dead."

Udina paused to let this sink in a bit. As Shepard had been in the employment of the SPECTRE's before his death, the Alliance had briefed the Council on some information from the Shepard interviews after he had turned himself in to the Alliance. Although it had been hard to swallow, the revelations about how Shepard had been brought back had even stumped the Council, the mere return of Shepard the year before had been surprising for everyone. And the implications of such technology was astonishing to say the least, all of the Council members had been briefed on the project bringing back Shepard. Or at least what little had been known about it.

Irissa frowned and asked surprised, "Cerberus?"

"Yes. Shepard, after his return to Earth, wasn't very forthcoming about the team he had worked with but the Alliance had enough to create files on those he worked with. Lawson was his Executive Officer onboard the SR-2 in addition to being the project lead on bringing back Shepard. Other than that we didn't have much else. But Alliance investigators believed, due to Shepard's reactions when pressed about her, that he and Ms. Lawson shared something more than just a working relationship. Were we sure? No. But in light of new information I have received I'm indeed troubled."

Esheel interjected, "Where are you going with this Councilor?"

Udina continued troubled, "Alliance Intelligence is of course busy with the war, but I've taken part of these files and asked soon-to-be SPECTRE Williams a few questions, seeing as she once was close to Commander Shepard, and I have now learned a few important facts which I'm inclined to believe in. That Lawson is romantically involved with Shepard is now verified by Williams as Shepard have told her this, what I didn't know is that Lawson is indeed onboard the SR-2-"

Esheel rose up perplexed, "Wait? Are you telling us that Shepard is with this woman and that she's onboard the Normandy? And she's Cerberus?"

Udina nodded, "Yes it appears so. Williams claims that Lawson is onboard the Normandy. Shepard has also told her that Lawson is no longer part of Cerberus and he seems to trust her implicitly. But the facts are as you say; she's onboard and could very likely still be associated with Cerberus." Udina turned and gestured towards the projection behind him, "These files, which I can give you copies of as long as it stay between us, indicate that Lawson was – or is - a high-level operative within Cerberus and apt at, shall we say, social engineering. Manipulation is something else she is supposedly very good at. She is also ruthless, and frankly all this worries me."

Quentius said troubled, "But with Shepard's track record this can't be true. He's stopped more than one Cerberus operation since the war started, if she is manipulating him-"

Udina interjected, "Wouldn't it be wise for her to do so with subtlety? Maybe she's waiting for the opportune moment, maybe she will later report her findings to Cerberus, I don't know. But it's safe to assume that she can't compromise her position, if she acts suspicious Shepard or anyone else onboard could notice this. She can't compromise herself by actively interfering in operations. Maybe Cerberus believes that their forces could still complete any operation despite interference on Shepard's part."

Esheel sat down and pondered, "This is disconcerting. If Shepard is compromised..."

"What's the status on the cure?" Quentius asked Udina.

"All I've been informed as of date is that a major fleet is in orbit around Tuchanka and that progress is being made on the cure."

Esheel countered vehemently, "The position of the salarian government is still that this is a dangerous situation, curing the genophage."

Udina sighed, "It's the Alliance stance, as well as the turian hierarchy, that gaining krogan support is vital for the war against the Reapers." He continued bothered, "And as neither the salarians nor the asari are pledging their support for the war at this time it's the path we will take."

Quentius nodded, "Agreed, and neither of your homeworlds or even colonies are under attack at the moment." He shook his head and gestured towards the projection, "But we're getting side tracked. What of this business with Shepard and this Cerberus woman?"

Udina shrugged, "I don't know, but I'm running my own investigation into her presence. I want to point out that this is strict 'need to know' for now. We don't have anything solid and I advise to avoid any potential disasters. It is also crucial that she doesn't realize her presence has been blown, because if cornered she might be pushed to desperate actions. And if she is kept in the dark we can then use her to feed Cerberus false intel. The majority of the Alliance leadership is kept in the dark here, including Admiral Hackett and Anderson per their close relationship with Shepard. I hope you appreciate the fact that you as figures from outside the Alliance are some of the very few who know about this."

"But even Hackett has to see what this means!" Esheel exclaimed bothered. "If Commander Shepard is compromised and he's helming important operations the war effort might be in danger."

Irissa nodded, "Agreed, if such we need to look over our own defenses and intelligence apparatus to fill any holes that might have appeared."

Quentius countered, "Do we even know if he's compromised? It doesn't bode well, but for all we know she can have defected from Cerberus. We have to take Shepard's track record into consideration; he has fought Cerberus on many occasions before. We don't have a lot of information."

"And then he joined them," Esheel said dismissively.

Quentius sighed. He was a pragmatic, and sure he'd dismissed the Collectors just as much as any of the other Councilors, but when eventually the Alliance learned the truth he understood the necessity of Shepard's temporary alliance with Cerberus. He didn't like it, and it was clearly a surprise when Shepard returned from the dead, but Shepard had done what he thought was necessary and for that Quentius could respect the human SPECTRE. And if he had convinced a Cerberus operative to defect from the organization, someone it seemed was pretty high up in the chain of command, then so much better.

The turian said, "He put his career on the line to save humanity from the Collectors and immediately cut all ties after the mission."

Esheel snorted, "Not with Ms. Lawson apparently. Plus didn't it take several months before he turned himself over to the Alliance after returning from the Collector base? He carried out a secret mission for Admiral Hackett after that, but what of his liaison with Lawson? It's not impossible she used that timeframe to establish herself."

"I have enough faith in Shepard, and she apparently quit Cerberus. Shepard can be a very persuasive man."

Irissa cautioned: "That hasn't been confirmed yet, Quentius."

Udina said, "But we're pretty confident she did give Shepard some intelligence at one point as several facts he relayed to the Alliance were nowhere to be found within the SR-2 databases. However it proved not to be of any quantity we had wished for and it amounted in disappointingly little value."

"How convenient," Esheel sarcastically remarked before she said more seriously, "And there's still the atrocity he caused on Bahak."

Udina interjected vehemently, "I resent that Esheel. Regardless of how it looked at the time, we now know it was a desperate and necessary act which bought us months of peace. Time we desperately needed to try and prepare for the Reaper invasion

"Yes. And that comes from the people who created the genophage," Quentius countered sternly, locking eyes with the salarian.

Esheel responded defensively, "I'm not questioning the stated intention of stopping the Reapers; but I'm questioning the collateral damage." The salarian frowned and glanced at Quentius, "And that analogy would be correct Councilor Quentius if the destruction of the Alpha Relay affected only the Reapers, but it didn't. The genophage did not affect any other race than the krogan."

"That very well may be the case Quentius," Irissa said evenly, "But nevertheless the lengths in which he had gone do raise questions about his feelings towards the batarians. There were already indications of that in his service record after Elysium ten years ago. I agree with Esheel and advice caution in light of his questionable judgment."

Esheel nodded, "And perhaps Ms. Lawson is the bad influence. Human history has examples of leaders falling prey to romance. Humans can be very…emotionally vulnerable to such affection." The salarian glanced at the projection, "And she seems to be attractive to a human male."

Quentius shook his head bothered, "The evidence circumstantial at best and Shepard have been known as a man of conviction. I concede that further investigation is required. The stakes are simply too great, but I believe that it will be a fruitless endeavor and the accusations are far-fetched."

Udina pondered, "I agree Quentius, we don't have a lot but what has been uncovered doesn't paint a pretty image. We also need to keep in mind that Shepard might be duped and is not willingly a potential risk. There's still time for redemption if that's the case."

Irissa said, "We need more information before we can act either way. Udina, you will need to continue that investigation without arousing suspicion with either Shepard or the rest of the Alliance. We need as much information and evidence as possible before we act."

Udina nodded, "Of course."

"Was there anything else?" Esheel asked.

Udina responded, "Well there are a few things considering Williams' upcoming SPECTRE induction I'd like to bring about..."

* * *

It was a tired Shepard that returned to his quarters late in the afternoon, having spent parts of the day in a QEC-conference with Admiral Santini of the Seventh Fleet and Admiral Viator of the turian fleet. They had discussed the overall battle plan for the upcoming release of the cure; where ships would be positioned to best provide security as well as having several strike packages of fighters and bombers ready to provide air support over Tuchanka as there were still plenty of Reaper ground forces present. Shepard was of course specialized in light infantry tactics but after completing a Master of Arts in Joint Military Operations at the Arcturus War College years earlier he was well versed in the different aspects of warfare. The staffs of both fleets had worked feverishly during the past days to come up with an operations plan to best deploy the two fleets considering the strengths and weaknesses of both.

The joint species fleet was as ready as they could be.

Shepard strolled past the hall and saw Miranda seated at the computer, reviewing a report on the monitor in front of her. She turned the seat around to face him and gave him a bright smile.

"Hey." She greeted.

Shepard flashed her a smile of his own and walked over to her and leaned in and they shared a soft kiss.

"Hi. Long time no see." Shepard said and pulled back.

"Yes. Where have you been all day?" Miranda asked curiously.

"Conference with Admirals Santini and Viator among other things. What are you up to?"

"Reading a maintenance report, the chief engineer is concerned about the drive core and the safety issues imposed on the engineers during sustained combat. It's nothing that will affect operations but he'll continue look into making it safer."

"Right. But won't we all be dead before the drive core cooks everyone?"

Miranda nodded, "Most likely. But it won't hurt to consider safety measurements if it keeps engineering happy."

"Of course." Shepard paused and grimaced a bit, "I was contacted by the Dalatrass earlier. She isn't happy about what we're doing here."

"No surprise there. What did she say?"

"Ugh, it felt like a repeat of her tirade from the summit. Nothing new." Shepard shrugged, "I think we have more immediate concerns with the Reapers to worry about the future krogan. If we want the turians we fix the cure."

Miranda nodded, "Yes. There's that."

Shepard leaned in and kissed her lips again. He pulled back and faintly smiled, "I'll need to rest my head a bit. Too much politics today as usual. I'll lie down for a few moments."

"You do that." Miranda said and returned her attention to the monitor.

Shepard took his leave and walked down the steps to the bed. He sat down on the bed and removed his boots and glanced at the office and saw Miranda engrossed in her work. She really was a workaholic and thoroughly loved it, and her dedication was one of many things he loved about her. But thankfully she had embraced their relationship as well. Shepard lied down and looked up the ceiling and all the stars outside. Shepard took a tired breath and closed his eyes and he began contemplating how things had changed since his death and resurrection.

The Collector attack on the SR-1 had really stirred up things in his life, and not just professionally. He had died and Ashley had mourned. Then she had moved on.

And later, so had he.

To be honest Miranda had never been his first choice. Not his second choice, either. He would have much sooner considered Ms. Chambers over Ms. Lawson, even if Kelly had a little too much of a bubbly personality. But there had always been something in the back of his mind which had warned him about Kelly, and after rescuing his crew and destroying the Collector base those indications proved to be correct.

After cleaning up the mess left after the disastrous Project Overlord, and stories told mostly by Garrus from their Saren days, it had all been an eye-opener for Kelly and she parted ways with Cerberus shortly after returning from the Omega 4 Relay. After that she had confessed, and apologized, that she had sent reports on Shepard and his team to the Illusive Man. It wasn't much of a surprise for Shepard; it was something he had suspected. After all, being associated with Cerberus made Shepard wary of the crew even if the majority seemed nice enough. And not long before leaving for Earth, Kelly had left the Normandy and had even agreed on changing name and appearance on Shepard's behest to protect herself from Cerberus reprisals.

And for those others who had showed interest in Shepard; Liara, Tali and Ashley for instance, they had all expressed a genuine desire for a meaningful relationship, while it was clear from everything Miranda said and did that she was only interested in her career.

She devaluated what it took for him to work with Cerberus, every adjustment and every boundary he had to cross in the name of saving the human colonists; she took those changes for granted. She even had the nerve to criticize him for everything he was unable to accomplish.

Somehow she believed he had some kind of obligation not to fail her because of all the time and effort she had put into him. And she felt it was necessary to show him that she thought he would fail those expectations. She also criticized him over disagreements how he lead the mission. She also made it clear that she thought what he had accomplished in his career was nothing more than modern day legends.

Miranda didn't seem to appreciate how much it had cost him to deal with his death, nor how it was to be ripped away from his…natural environment; disowned by the organization he had dedicated his entire adult life to (something she would later in a way experience herself) and that he had been isolated from almost all his friend and allies. Working for someone he once had called an enemy.

She had also been adamant on the fact that if she had her way it had been her call to have him implanted with a control chip. He sometimes wondered if it was some sort of inborn inability to be tactful, because it often felt as she wanted to show him that she didn't care what other people thought about him and his accomplishments. To say that her attitude had been getting on his nerve would be an understatement; he really didn't like people who treated others like she had done.

He was never sure of anything other than the fact that she needed a good spanking. And surprisingly that wasn't the beginning of his sexual fantasies about her.

And John Shepard wasn't one to be pushed around.

Early on he began to enjoy how it aggravated her how calm he was. How when she tried (intentionally or not) to antagonize him and he just calmly endured and used her arrogance against her and pointed out her errors. It wasn't necessarily malice on her part, but her demeanor wasn't very likable. Sometimes he felt that her behavior made it harder to sympathize with her flaws than it was to sympathize with some of the shady characters he had encountered.

The situation however improved over time even if she still remained cold and reserved, but the early conflicts subsided and she had proven to be an asset to the team. She still remained his most outspoken critic and at the same time she didn't let him get away with everything just on the grounds of being Shepard.

Soon enough she became his most important sounding board and a measure of mutual respect developed between them.

And that she was so adamant in her defense of her employer was irritating at times, but he concluded that it was some sort of defensive mechanism for all the vicious attacks that was directed at the organization she seemed to be such a staunch believer in.

He had often wondered if she had been truly oblivious of Cerberus sins, or if it all was just a facade for his benefit?

Shepard was still very suspicious of the Cerberus loyalist and watched for her hidden agendas, much as he did with most of the Cerberus crew. A conflict of interests existed between them that at some point could have very disastrous consequences for him. He had to be vigilant. However she didn't do anything to make him think that it was just some sort of plot, and his gut seemed to concur. He was after all a pretty good judge of character himself.

She seemed very displeased at his continuing attempts at chit-chat and even more when he tried to extract any personal information, but with time tiny cracks in her icy exterior appeared. The contrast of their early encounters made those tiny successes appear so meaningful and as the mission progressed her defensive wall began to crumble even more

As he started to see the human in Miranda Lawson, he also started to notice her beauty.

And something akin to friendship developed. Not exactly what he normally would've call it, but considering how few people got to experience Operative Lawson in such a relaxed capacity he had to have made an impression on her, and she had certainly made an impression on him. What had been the source of great aggravation and dislike for the Operative, the disrespect she seemed to treat him with, became an advantage later.

He had to earn her admiration and he noted that Miranda Lawson was not easily impressed. And if he was honest with himself he admitted that the challenge made the success a great boost to his ego.

And he admired her intelligence, strength and determination. He admired her will to work tirelessly as she did for the causes she felt were important. He didn't expect her to ever slow down and he also admired how proud she was over the work she had done, and was doing.

And as they both became closer he learned about her past and how much of her outward confidence was a shield. She was very secure in her abilities, but what she was secure in also made her feel like a failure. Her father managed to deeply warp her view of herself. As their relationship had progressed much deeper later, Shepard tried to make her believe in herself and she had made a lot of progress since those early days.

But there was something about not being able to pinpoint a source of anyone's abilities, any conscious entity behind it that made it easy for people to forget about the first step, and thus perhaps deluding how people earned their skills.

Miranda was however painfully aware from an early age why she was created. A tool of her father and she looked upon herself through the prism of perfection her father tried to achieve. And it was never her father who failed to do what he set out to do, in her mind it was she who had everything and failed to use it. And perhaps a lot of the early hostility could have been a reaction to the fact of how unworthy Shepard made her feel. Up to that point she was the Illusive Man's favorite and in a way Shepard did replace her.

It was also apparent to Shepard that Miranda had attachment issues early on in their relationship; she pushed away people that got close to her. He understood what a great undertaking it had been for her not to push him away. That defensive mechanism spawned from the very fact that her father abandoned her when he decided that she was unworthy of his attention when she was a child, the man had never cared for his daughter in a way any parent that wasn't called pathological would have.

And when finally something began to hang in the air between them Shepard didn't think for a second it was any form of hero worship or that she was looking at some kind of figure on a poster.

Shepard wasn't sure what he had been feeling and he was still on his guard after Horizon. The…potential physical aspect was a large part of it all considering he hadn't had sex in a life time at that point. But he wasn't going to act on it if he didn't think at the time that there would be reciprocation, which certainly was hard to gauge from someone like Ms. Lawson.

But then something just clicked between them.

Seeing Miranda fighting for her sister was what made him want her and ready to pursue her.

He didn't know what exactly it was, but he wanted to explore it and he wanted to see more of that side of her. And when they finally were together she never wavered in her fate in him and was there when he needed it, but she knew he was only human and she didn't expect him to have all the answers and solve all the problems. He might not have been the only reason she left Cerberus, but after coming to know him like she did, she would never question the authenticity of his core values and his integrity like Ash did. Most importantly he felt that Miranda would give him the benefit of the doubt.

His thoughts abruptly ended when he felt someone moving about on top. He opened his eyes and found Miranda straddling him with a smirk.

Shepard grinned and said playfully, "Ms. Lawson. What are you up to?"

Miranda said slyly, "Wouldn't you like to know? I just couldn't help myself with the sight of you." She slipped her hands in under his shirt and caressed his abdomen.

Shepard chuckled and rested his hands on her hips, "If you say so."

"You know, the strangest thing happened earlier."

"Oh?"

"Garrus approached me and we talked some. As I recall, he hasn't done that before."

_Good job Garrus,_ Shepard thought pleased to himself.

Miranda looked into Shepard's eyes, "What are you planning?"

"What? Me?" Shepard asked innocently.

Miranda faintly grinned, "Don't get coy with me Commander. I can, and will, get you to reveal it all."

"I completed the Alliance's SERE-program. So I can withstand any interrogation attempts," Shepard said confidently.

Miranda countered playfully, "Oh, and I'm supposed to be impressed by that?" Miranda lowered herself over Shepard with a smirk and planted a few soft kisses on his lips. She pulled back and said, "You can't resist me John and I'll get you to talk."

Shepard grinned, "I actually look forward to that."

"You'll beg me to stop." Miranda unbuttoned his shirt and parted it so she could explore his upper body slowly with her hands. She lowered herself down and planted kisses along his chest.

Shepard looked at Miranda and chuckled, "Probably not." He paused for a few moments and enjoyed her ministrations and then said, "But in all seriousness Miri; how often do you actually talk to others outside official business with the exception of me?"

Miranda stopped her kissing and sat up again. She looked at him bewildered, "Why do you ask?"

Shepard said softly, "Miri, it's pretty obvious that you are more or less only with me during downtime."

"And you gladly spend that time with me," she pointed out

"Yes, and I want to spend time with you. But it doesn't mean you can't talk to others now and then." Shepard smiled disarmingly, "Spread your wings a bit, I don't want you to be so isolated."

Miranda hesitated and crossed her arms, "I'm not good at…social interaction."

"You seem pretty good at it with me. And considering your days as a Cerberus operative – what little I know about it I might add – you must have at times been prone to social interaction to get somewhere with a target."

"That's…different." Miranda said flustered with a tense body language.

Shepard propped himself on his elbows and leaned in and planted a few kisses on her lips. Miranda visibly eased down a bit and smiled faintly. Shepard lied down again and reached out for one of Miranda's hands and took it in his and squeezed it affectionately and she returned the gesture.

Shepard said softly, "I wouldn't mind if some of my friends would be your friends. I'd be happy with you and Garrus being a little closer. If not friends, at least more than colleagues."

Miranda conceded a bit, "I actually enjoyed it. Mordin showed up to. Behind all his mannerisms there's actually some humor and not just science."

Shepard smiled pleased at the new revelation, "See. Even better than I had hoped." Shepard shrugged, "But in the end do as you wish. I just want to help you."

"Yes, you always do."

Shepard grinned, "If not, it can be part of an evil Cerberus-operation to manipulate Commander Shepard."

Miranda giggled, "Close? And I'm not sufficiently close to you?"

"No, in order to manipulate you'll have to lull his closest friend into the false notion that you are not a threat and then you move in."

Miranda smirked, "I can move in for something much more…pleasurable." She let go of Shepard's hand and explored his upper body and slowly lowered herself over Shepard.

Shepard grinned with anticipation in his eyes. Their soft lips brushed close and they kissed.

* * *

Wrex was sitting at the table in the Life Support-room and glancing at the drive core outside the window which was oddly calming. The krogan was reflecting over the current situation, his species was on the cusp of greatness, or a very bloody downfall. If everything played out their curse would be cured very soon and the krogan would once again take charge against a threat to the galaxy as they had done in the past. And Wrex hoped for a brighter future for his people and he knew, begrudgingly, that to elevate the standing of the krogan it would need a lot of smooth talking. Not his forte, but the shaman seemed to have fully embraced that.

The female shaman was in one of the observatories looking upon their planet. Certainly finding both solace and vigor for the upcoming milestone of the krogan people. She had been named Eve by the salarian, it had taken Wrex a few minutes of an extranet search to find out it's meaning in human religion. It was not the most exciting human stories he had ever indulged himself - he preferred to read about the big wars from Earth's history - but he couldn't deny that the namesake was fitting for the shaman. The new era would begin with 'Eve' and him, and his namesake would undoubtedly be this 'Adam' if he would adhere to the human myth.

Wrex was still worried about the Reaper presence on his planet. And since the buildup of human and turian fleets there had been no other successful attempts to land forces on his planet. Which was fortunate, but it gave Wrex a pause for concern if the machines had learned that something was brewing. Or were they merely confident that the forces planetside would be enough for whatever they were doing?

No doubt time would tell.

His omni-tool beeped with an incoming message. He wasn't overly concerned about the AI construct onboard the Normandy, sure anything that was transmitted to or from the ship was picked up by the AI but apparently Shepard didn't seem to mind the AI, and Wrex did trust his friend. He tapped his omni-tool and accessed the message.

This was strange. The sender appeared to be his secondary contact in the STG.

One of many things he had picked up from Shepard was to have a plan B brewing, or what could resemble a plan B. Of course Shepard mostly improvised, but he did try his best to have contingency plans ready. And this contact was Wrex's contingency.

Wrex began reading the message. The krogan narrowed his eyes at the omni-tool's display. He grimaced and snorted angrily.

He called out, "AI, where is Shepard?"

EDI responded a few short moments later, _"Shepard is currently located in his quarters and...appears preoccupied. Is there something I can assist with Clan Leader?"_

"Tell Shepard I'll be up shortly," Wrex said bothered about the news from his STG-contact and closed the omni-tool.

EDI protested that Wrex should wait for her to call on Shepard but Wrex didn't listen.

* * *

Shepard had, to his surprise actually, taken control earlier while they were on the bed and had rolled Miranda over on her back. Or at least he thought he was in control. They had quickly discarded his BDU shirt minutes earlier on the floor, but when Miranda removed her own blouse it went away in a more delicate matter as it was draped on the armchair; Shepard didn't even dare to contemplate the price tag associated with that piece of clothing.

Of course she never settled for anything but the best. And neither did Shepard.

He wasn't looking for someone who had fallen for some kind of idealized hero and his exposure to some age-old prothean beacon. Liara's attraction to him had been instantaneous and she herself admitted she wasn't experienced. It looked like a crush and he wasn't interested in being anybody's experiment.

He didn't want some girl who was merely infatuated in him because he was some 'dashing commander' that rescued her from Saren's thugs. But maybe he told himself that so it was easier to deal with the fact that he unintentionally hurt a friend. He always felt that people, who claimed to love him, loved his image. Idealized him, and Tali was young and often naive. So much so that he chose to overlook all the incompatibilities that would probably kill a relationship.

He didn't want someone who appeared was fickle in her loyalty and affection only to turn on him when things didn't suit her apparent 'standards'. Shepard knew full well that he could muster staunch loyalty at will and he always picked people who he trusted.

Then he returned from death...and the person he held on to trying to find strength in dealing with everything that had happened rejected him and called him a traitor. He thought Ashley knew him better.

And he should have expected it. She was a diehard Alliance marine and more than two years had passed, but she acted like she was sorry that he was alive.

Ashley might have had her reasons, but it hurt no less.

Then she sent an e-mail apologizing, but she didn't give him the courtesy of understanding. Why should he? He decided he didn't have to be the ever understanding Commander Shepard that time.

He wanted someone who stood next to him; not someone that followed in his wake.

He wanted mutual respect and support. And that woman would get the same in return.

He wanted a sexually confident and independent woman.

And Miranda was all that, and more; she was competent and strong willed. And she was still a mystery to be solved as he was still learning to know her.

And then there was her beauty. He couldn't fathom how fit her body really was. Flawless. And that heartwarming smile she had, he could fall head over heels in love with her over and over because of that smile. And her laughter was heavenly and so was her accent.

And their sex life was out of this world.

Miranda wrapped her legs around Shepard's waist and locked them together behind his back. The two lovers kissed passionately which sent pleasurable waves of thrills through her body and she let out a low moan as she dug her nails into his bare shoulders and this encouraged Shepard to continue on. He slipped away his lips from Miranda's and kissed her jawline and neck downwards, Miranda loosened her hold slightly for him to easier move down. He found his way down to her cleavage and her bra clad sizable breasts, she gasped to his actions.

_Why haven't she lost her bra yet? This has to be mended. And our pesky pants need to go as well._

He slowly caressed her sides as he continued his ministrations and could feel a pleasant shiver through her body; he loved how she reacted to his touch. His hands continued and found their way to the small of her back. She used her legs and arms wrapped around his body as leverage and sat up to give his hands enough room to slide behind and find the fastener of her black satin bra. She moaned even more to his kisses on her soft skin as her chest heaved up and down faster.

But then EDI's voice intruded on their intimate moment, _"Shepard?"_

Shepard grunted displeased and Miranda made an annoyed sound as well.

"EDI, this is not a good time. Shut down your sensors," Shepard ordered sternly resting his forehead on Miranda's chest.

_"I would, but I think you should know that Urdnot Wrex is on his way up."_

Shepard sat up straight and sighed, "And why is he that?" He looked into Miranda's eyes; she wasn't pleased at all about the intrusion.

_"I think it's better for him to tell you. It's just a friendly warning Shepard. Logging you out."_

The intercom fell silent.

"Damn it all," Miranda said flustered and began to calm down from her aroused state.

Shepard planted several soft kisses on her lips which she gladly reciprocated.

_Well it was expected that they couldn't always have intimate moments with everything going on, that would be selfish really, _Shepard thought.

"We'll continue this later," Shepard said softly.

Miranda smiled faintly, "Promise?"

Shepard chuckled, "Definitely."

Miranda smirked, "Good, I'm all hot and bothered."

Despite having to cut their passion short Shepard grinned and left the bed as Miranda's arms and legs let him go. He found his shirt on the floor and quickly put it on while Miranda retrieved her blouse.

Shepard looked on as Miranda tried to untangle her messy hair after she had put on her blouse. He smirked and said, "I don't think Wrex cares about a fashion statement like that."

Miranda sent him a mock-glare, "Be quiet."

A knock on the door was heard, or rather someone pounding on the door with his fist, and Shepard turned his attention to that and headed up the stairs to the door.

Shepard swiped his hand over the interface and the door unlocked slid open revealing Wrex in his red armor.

"Shepard."

"Wrex."

The krogan barged in, he glanced at the large fish tank and noted Shepard's lover down by the stairs that looked up with an impassive look.

"What can I do for you Wrex?" Shepard asked from behind.

Wrex turned around and fiddled with his omni-tool, "You need to see this." He brought up his arm and punched a button and the message he'd received earlier from his STG-contact was shown, mirrored so Shepard could see it from his side.

Shepard glanced at it and he looked at Wrex, "I can't read krogan."

Wrex mumbled something and punched in a few buttons on the omni-tool and the translation-program quickly translated the message to English.

Shepard turned his gaze to the screen and read it. Finally he said concerned, "I think we better take this up with Mordin."

* * *

Mordin took a deep breath and glanced at the advanced equipment on the bench in front of him.

_Yes, this should do._

The salarian was working hard with the limited equipment he had. It was far from an impossible task to synthesize his compound, but it was time consuming. But he was on the right track and by the next morning he would have it all ready for dispersion and he would finally be at peace.

Eve had returned a little earlier and was seated at her usual place. Mordin enjoyed her company even if not much was said at times. Apparently Eve had a taste for singing and Mordin had been talked into performing yet again a modified version of the human song 'Pirate King' from the opera play 'The Pirates of Penzance'. But Mordin had instead sung about a 'krogan queen', much to Eve's delight.

But he preferred patter songs.

The silence in the infirmary was interrupted by the door opening, Mordin still focused on his work didn't pay it much attention as he believed that Dr. Chakwas had returned, but he was surprised to hear Shepard's voice and heavy footsteps.

Krogan footsteps.

"Mordin, we have a situation," Shepard informed as he and Wrex walked up to him.

Mordin turned from his work and glanced at the two men, "Yes?"

Eve looked at Wrex and Shepard curiously from her bed.

Shepard shook his head and sighed, "It appears Wrex here have received some troubling news from a secondary STG contact."

Mordin sniffed, "Secondary? Yes that makes sense. Good to have plans for all eventualities."

Wrex interjected angrily, "Those pyjaks have sabotaged the Shroud!"

"It seems years ago the salarians sabotaged the Shroud to stop anyone from doing exactly what we're planning here," Shepard explained.

"Yes. Makes sense to do that." Mordin took a deep breath, "Clever to prepare if anyone got the urge to release a cure. Good thinking."

"Good thinking?" Wrex almost spat disgusted.

"Yes, from a tactical stand point." Mordin gestured dismissively, "No matter. Didn't come this far to have work undone. Regardless, would likely have detected sabotage, now we come prepared."

Wrex was slightly relieved to hear that, "But my contact doesn't know what was done or what it will do to the cure."

"Doesn't matter. Would likely have fooled tests. But familiar with STG work. Can adjust."

"I was contacted by the Dalatrass earlier - not that I in hindsight would have expected her to say anything about it - but she probably expects this to work. I wonder if there are other surprises in store for us Mordin, and are you sure you can work around this?"

Mordin nodded and said confidently, "Yes."

Wrex asked angrily, "What did she want?"

Shepard shrugged, "It was a repeat of her views from the summit."

Wrex snorted, "And she thought they would get away with this?"

"Apparently."

Eve had remained silent during the conversation and said calmly and appreciatively, "I'm glad you are on our side Commander."

Shepard turned to face her and said modestly to her praise, "You are welcome. Thanks."

Eve shook her head, "No, it's you who should have my thanks Commander; your presence may have spared our race from yet another genocide."

Wrex chuckled from behind and slapped Shepard friendly on his shoulder, "I told you we could trust Shepard."

Shepard cleared his throat and was flustered by the praise, "Yes well we aren't in the clear yet. I've to talk to the fleet commanders." Shepard turned to Mordin, "When will you be done?"

"Tomorrow morning, Normandy-time."

* * *

**_Quote: Chuck (Chuck versus the Role Models)._**

**_Shepard's dialogue on his childhood is based on Officer John Blake's comments from "The Dark Knight Rises"._**

**_One of Garrus' lines is inspired from the interview-segment preceding a Band of Brothers episode, "Crossroads" to be precise._**

**_Reference to Terminator 2: Judgment Day_**

**_Uva is grape in Latin._**

**_One of Mordin's lines is lifted from Mass Effect 3: Citadel DLC, with slight alteration._**

"**_Basic research"-quote attributed to German rocket scientist Wernher von Braun with a slight alteration of mine._**

**_Some Udina-characterization inspired from the first pages of Tom Clancy's "Clear and Present Danger", which is a great book! _**

**_Assistance & contributions by xXserialkillerXx on parts of the Miranda/Shepard scenes and exploration of their relationship, the scene with Dalatrass Linron and the Udina/Council scene._**

**_SERE: Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape. A US military program which teaches how to evade capture, survival skills and so forth. Based on CIA interrogation and psychological warfare practices._**

**_It took almost a month to get this thing out, but there were scenes that needed to be ironed out and what not. Plus real life things have been in the way. So I give you a lengthy chapter to read instead, it got a little bit of everything; love, conspiracy and banter._**

**_Edited 2013-03-21: A few random grammatical changes and such._**

**_Edited 2013-03-27: Random grammatical changes and such._**


	33. Battle for Tuchanka: Part 1

Mordin Solus was in the Cargo Bay of the Normandy, retrieving a Hurricane SMG from a weapons locker. He quickly checked the sights and adjusted them accordingly. He then checked that the weapon didn't have a thermal clip loaded and performed a functions check. He pulled the charging handle and pulled the trigger; the weapon vented and emitted a beeping sound. Mordin put the weapon on safe and was pleased that the weapon seemed to function as it should. He then retrieved thermal clips and stuffed his pouches with those and inserted one in his weapon and holstered it to his suit.

The cure was as finished as it could be; Mordin had stayed up the entire night and made the finishing touches before he caught a few hours of sleep. The last part in the synthesizing process had to be done at the Shroud itself to properly disperse the cure for the desired effect.

Upon informing Shepard earlier during the morning things had moved quickly, Shepard's team had eaten breakfast and had been told to assemble in the Cargo Bay and suit up. Shepard had also informed the human and turian fleet commanders that the operation was a go, and the military forces in the Aralakh-system were be ready for action. No enemy ships had been reported entering the system.

Shepard and Wrex had also coordinated the final plan earlier in the War Room with the Urdnot military. The Horde had on Wrex's order days earlier begun massing near the Shroud to secure it, and now the Horde had also relayed to Wrex that a large number of Reaper ground units had been seen moving towards the Shroud and several krogan fortifications and outposts nearby. And with the destruction of the Reaper transport ships two days earlier it was believed that more Reapers could be expected anytime so time was of the essence. Shepard was expected to inform the others in the Cargo Bay soon.

Mordin could feel the tension building up amongst the crew but also from Wrex. The war effort was at stake as well as the future for the krogan as a species.

Mordin hoped he would find his redemption today.

Shepard's team, most of whom he had fought side by side during the Collector mission, was readying their weapons and securing their combat armor sans their helmets. Wrex had also procured a weapon from the vast armory present on the Normandy, a Scimitar shotgun, but the krogan lamented that the armory lacked his favorite the M300 Claymore.

Everyone assembled near the workstations as Shepard joined them after grabbing his own weapons loadout.

"What's the game plan?" Garrus asked. Everyone already knew of the threat reports that had come in from the krogan military.

"We'll touch down at a krogan outpost and move to the Shroud in an armored convoy. The backup of those vehicles and heavily armed krogan should be enough, but if we encounter heavy resistance the _Ferrata_ and the Armstrong will have fighters and bombers ready to support us if need be."

Wrex declared vigorously, "If they want a fight, they just got one. The krogan Horde will be ready if more of them come."

Shepard nodded, "If it comes to that we have the combined strength of the human and turian fleets poised to attack any Reapers coming through the relay. But I want our boots on the ground quickly and the convoy on the move for the Shroud so we can deploy the cure. Expect enemy opposition."

Mordin nodded and spoke rapidly, "Yes. Sound strategy. A small team can reach the Shroud quickly. Finish synthesizing the cure while krogan deal with the ground resistance currently in the area. Threat negligible. Unless surprised. We'll need Eve to come with us, ideal to quickly finish the cure."

Wrex snorted and glanced at Mordin, "Thought you were done with your knifes?"

Mordin waved dismissively, "To ensure smooth synthesizing and establishing transmission vector, Eve's presence is required."

Shepard called out, "EDI, tell Eve to join us in the Cargo Bay for the mission. And she better hurry."

_"Right away Shepard."_

Wrex snorted, "Let's go Pyjak. It's time to cure the genophage."

* * *

Eve had actually been on her way down to the Cargo Bay when she received the message from EDI and she arrived quickly; she had informed that regardless of Mordin's need for her presence there was no way she was to stay onboard the Normandy for the upcoming battle. After a few minutes of take off preparations the Kodiak left the sanctuary of the Normandy and headed towards the planet.

The krogan outpost was the ancestral burial grounds called the Hollows; it was used for meetings on neutral ground. Mordin suspected that it would be some opposition to not only aiding the turians but also his presence on Tuchanka, which was probably the reason why Wrex had decided to assemble the clans at the Hollows before pushing towards the Shroud in the armored convoy. And then there was the power struggle amongst some clans, and assembling the leadership at a neutral ground would deter some clans from violence.

Hopefully.

It was also a likely symbolic gesture; the cure would start at a very sacred and revered place for the krogan.

For Mordin it all felt strange being in a shuttle heading towards Tuchanka concerning the genophage. The shuttle was cramped with a deadly team; a mercenary, two marines, a former vigilante, an archeologist turned information broker and finally a Cerberus defector. A very unlikely group of people banded together because of the war...or rather because of the leadership qualities of one man.

Having been part of the genophage modification project almost a decade earlier, at one point considered one of the most significant scientific projects in a long time, had been one of the crowning achievements in his career...despite the moral ambiguity of it all. A project he once wanted to be able to publicly take credit for.

But under the circumstances it was the correct choice which stopped another bloody war. But sometimes he believed he only told himself that to soothe his conscious. It was hard to reconcile his desire to help people, and even if it served to save lives, the project had continued to subjugate an entire people to endure such great misery, But he and many others had been very through and no better alternative was found. The numbers were as clear as they could have been.

The modification project would have been carried out regardless of his participation. And maybe it was because off what he had done that there were any krogan left in existence, someone else might have gotten it wrong. And maybe because of him there was a chance to cure the krogan curse this very day regardless of how questionable the genophage might have been. In essence punishing an entire race, every single krogan - guilty of crime or not. And the facts were simple; the krogan had to be stopped during the Rebellions, if not they would have continued their aggressions.

It was either the genophage or annihilation.

He was confident he had done the right thing during the modification project - most of the time at least - but he couldn't help feeling guilty about causing so much misery, no matter how justified the cause had been. Now, after all those years, being able to cure the genophage actually caused so much doubt and guilt that it was something he never had dreamed of. But now being on the verge of curing the genophage it felt like redemption. Not only playing an important part in helping the krogan, but also securing victory for the galaxy as an alliance against the Reapers could be forged this day if they succeeded.

A lot of incidents, occurrences and accidental meetings had led him to this point in his life. Meeting Shepard, joining his mission against the Collectors, learning of the Reapers; all this had happened and here he was.

A man of religious belief would have thought all those actions had been...what? Fate?

But despite his brilliant mind he couldn't give an answer to that.

From the seat opposite him Wrex broke the silence in the shuttle and declared with anticipation in his voice, "This will be the defining moment in krogan history."

Mordin uninspired pointed out that, "Krogan history filled with defining moments. Most bloody. Hope this one better."

From the cockpit Cortez called out, "We're nearing the LZ. I have indications of fighting on my sensors."

The shuttle rattled violently and the occupants seated in the passenger compartment bounced around a bit before the shuttle settled.

"We're taking fire." Cortez reported and steered the shuttle away from the heaviest of the anti-aircraft fire.

After a moment he called back, "We've a incoming transmission from the outpost. Opening up a comm channel."

A krogan voice growled, "Wrex? This is Wreav! Reaper creatures are attacking the Hollows! Come out with guns blazing when you land!"

Wrex called out, "Understood."

Cortez once again called out, "Hang on people, we're going in hot!"

The Reaper units attacking the krogan outpost, a series of crumbled buildings forming the Hollows, sprayed the sky with anti-aircraft fire at the incoming Kodiak shuttle. Cortez brought it in low and fast past the roof tops of the buildings and landed near the entrance to the main building leading down into the Hollows.

After touching down Shepard rallied his squad who broke out their weapons. Wrex took point and was impatiently waiting at the shuttle door with his shotgun at the ready. Mordin stayed in the back behind the others and readied his SMG.

Eve remained seated.

Shepard turned to address his team, "Keep your head on a swivel and shoot anything that looks like a Reaper. Understood?"

"Oorah that," Vega called out enthusiastically.

"No heroics." Shepard continued.

Garrus quipped, "Nah, that's reserved for you Shepard."

The shuttle door opened with a hiss and Wrex was about to step out but right outside the shuttle was a husk which made a high-pitched scream as it turned to attack the occupants in the shuttle. Wrex reacted quickly and brought up his shotgun in one hand and fired a blast at close range which ripped apart the husk. Shepard's team barely had time to register that the husk had been killed.

Wrex jumped down and gave the killed husk a cursory glance of disgust. He turned to face Shepard and the others.

"Shepard! I'm heading to see what's going on with the other clans and sort that out. Keep these things away from the female."

Wrex turned and headed the opposite way of the great chamber.

Shepard jumped down with the others in tow, "You got it Wrex."

As the others ran out and took up defensive positions nearby, Shepard turned to Mordin inside, "You coming Mordin-?"

"No, I'm coming," Mordin cut off rapidly and jumped down. He anticipated Shepard's question and felt time was wasting for Shepard to continue talking.

Shepard nodded, "Good. Steve, close the door behind us!"

"Roger that Commander," Cortez called out from inside.

Mordin was the last one out and the shuttle door closed shut.

Shepard brushed past Mordin and took point through a giant door nearby which would lead them down to the Hollows through a long corridor.

* * *

The great chamber was overrun with husks fighting the krogan guard which had pressed inside to clear it. The chamber had a circular platform raised in the middle with a smaller round platform on top of it with a small fire burning; it was a burial shrine used during ceremonial burials as dead krogan were laid to rest on the stone bed. The room was of the same krogan architecture as most buildings on Tuchanka and there was also the battle damage of all the wars from the past; a large hole in the roof and the wall straight ahead formed a dome over the large chamber and gave anyone looking out a 'picturesque' view of the brown world outside. Two large view ports on each opposite side of the platform was some kind of observation rooms used during clan meetings, inside those and the corridors beyond the rooms, the krogan fought against the husks, rapidly firing their weapons at the attacking husks.

The krogan guards inside was fighting fiercely but the nimble husks fared well considering the blood thirsty and battle hardened nature of the guards. The husks quickly overwhelmed their prey and pulled them down only to fall from the giant circular platform to their deaths below.

Mordin was following behind Shepard down the corridor to a new set of doors as they rushed down the steps and found themselves inside the chamber.

Shepard ordered his followers after quickly surveying the battlefield, "Alright people! Pick your targets and watch your six and don't get close to the sides, it looks like a long drop down!"

Shepard's team acknowledged his orders.

Clearing the steps the team was quickly greeted by several husks which leaped towards them, but the combined firepower of the team quickly negated that threat.

For Mordin, despite having distinct salarian memory, seeing Shepard in action once again felt fresh. His human friend moved swiftly and dynamically with energy few had. Only Garrus Vakarian could hope to match Shepard in such prowess. But all members of Shepard's team were seasoned fighters, and Shepard had the ability of bringing the absolute best out of those under his command.

Shepard knelt down at the end of the steps with his rifle in hand and fired short controlled bursts at the husks which leaped up on the platform from the sides. From the steps behind Shepard the others carefully picked their own targets and engaged them accordingly.

Garrus slid down on one knee near Shepard and covered 12 to 3 o' clock while his friend attacked the husks from 12 to 9 o' clock. The two friends were almost symbiotic, when one of them reloaded the other covered, they had fought so many battles that they could read each other and anticipate each other's moves like no others could.

"Two squads, split up and push forward! Garrus and I will cover the stairs!" Shepard called out over their radio.

Miranda quickly cleared the steps and came up behind Garrus and tapped him on the shoulder with her hand.

Miranda called out, "Advancing up!"

Mordin was closest to Miranda and decided to back her up and informed her, "With you Ms. Lawson."

"Copy," she responded.

Garrus merely nodded as a response to Miranda and lowered his rifle and she pushed ahead up the right hand path circling the burial shrine in front of them.

Mordin darted forward as well and was behind the former Cerberus operative with his SMG in hand.

Behind them the others advanced and took the left path as Shepard and Garrus provided covering fire for the advancing team members.

Mordin and Miranda moved swiftly on the path and stopped as a gaggle of husks approached them. Mordin raised his SMG and fired short controlled bursts at the incoming targets. A very effective weapon despite the recoil, Mordin surmised, but he had always wanted to test the human-made weapon.

Mordin quickly killed a husk and swiftly switched to another target.

Miranda was firing her rifle in short controlled bursts as well. Her body was engulfed in a blue tint as she unleashed a warp at one of the husks which quickly killed it.

Mordin raised his arm and a incinerate burst hurled towards the final target. The husk was soon engulfed by the fire and shrieked in pain as it fell to the ground, twisting as it slowly died.

"Good job Mordin," Miranda praised and then ordered, "On me."

Mordin quickly followed her as they pressed on. The gunfire from Shepard and the others echoed in the large chamber. In his earpiece, Mordin heard Vega informing that he, along with Zaeed and Liara, pushed through the husks on the other side of the platform.

Shepard and Garrus remained at their defensive position, attacking whatever husks the two other squads circling around didn't kill.

On the opposite side of the platform Vega continued in a rapid and enthusiastic voice, "Yeah get some! Like shooting fish in a barrel!"

Liara chimed in a confused voice, "What?"

"Like. Shooting. Fish. In. A. Barrel," Vega spelled out slowly. "An old human saying."

Garrus voice followed, "Yeah well, we're not finished here yet James!"

Miranda and Mordin pushed forward as they battled through several more husks with gunfire, biotics and tech before they linked up with Vega and his impromptu squad halfway through the platform. Everyone quickly reloaded their weapons.

Shepard's voice was heard in their earpieces, "Multiple husks on our side, get back here!"

"On our way!" Miranda responded and motioned for the others to follow her.

They darted around the platform and noted Garrus and Shepard engaging targets but it seemed that they didn't need any help as Wrex had returned with several other krogan who duly killed the last remaining husks from the top of the stairs.

Mordin noted a smaller statured krogan in silver armor wielding a Graal Spike Thrower who pushed past the main group; the guttural menacing chuckle was a quick give away who it was. The young krogan had nailed a husk to the ground through its torso.

Shepard rose from his knee and turned to the group of krogan walking down the steps. He exclaimed jovial through his voice module, "Grunt!"

The young krogan swiftly walked down and burst out happily as the two of them shook hands, "Shepard? Heh! Shepard!"

Grunt chuckled as he slapped Shepard friendly on his shoulder.

"What are you doing here?" Shepard asked.

Behind Shepard the others assembled nearby.

"I could ask you the same. Didn't those idiots lock you up?"

"Yeah, to avoid enraging the batarians and to smooth things over with the Council as they all prepared for war."

"They got one now," Grunt growled enthusiastically. "Glad you are here to crack some heads Shepard."

Garrus swaggered up next to Shepard and quipped, "And our krogan baby has all grown up. Makes me proud."

Grunt chuckled menacingly again.

Shepard chuckled, "You were always a pain in the ass Grunt. It's good to see you. We can reminisce later."

Grunt gave his old battle master an acknowledging nod.

Behind Grunt, Wrex walked up and declared proudly as his voice echoed in the chamber, "They'll sing battle songs about this someday. Reaper blood has finally soaked our soil."

Wrex brushed past Shepard and the others with his entourage of krogan. Above the great chamber in the observation rooms more krogan gathered and howled concurringly as they had defeated the enemy.

Wrex stopped near the burial shrine and glanced out over the chamber.

Shepard approached him from behind, "Let's not waste time Wrex. We need to get to the Shroud. The female is not with you?"

"Agree-"

But Wrex wasn't allowed to finish as an antagonized krogan voice was heard coming from the top of the stair case, "What's a salarian doing here?"

A krogan in brown and silver tinted armor walked down the stairs with his own entourage of krogan following in his wake.

Wrex and the others turned to the disturbance. Shepard took a few steps closer to Mordin.

The krogan spoke in a harsh voice as he continued down the stair case, "Nobody said anything about this!"

Mordin, who had only observed the interactions between Shepard, Grunt and Wrex glanced at the incoming krogan. He seemed less friendly then that of Wrex and even Grunt.

_Problematic._

The new krogan and his entourage stopped at the end of the stairs, glaring at Wrex and his allies of mixed races.

Mordin spoke to Shepard, "Multiple krogan. Problematic."

"You don't say," Shepard said sardonically and turned to face the newcomers, "What clan are you?"

The krogan walked closer and stopped in front of Wrex and glared at him, "Urdnot Wreav. Brood brother to our..." Wreav paused and drawled disgusted, "Illustrious leader."

Wrex's own entourage of krogan growled displeased at the disrespect aimed at Wrex. Grunt stood behind Wrex and fingered his weapon with a menacing frown.

Miranda was near Shepard and cautioned on their secure and encrypted radio channel, "This can turn bad quickly."

Shepard responded, "Yeah, but let this play out, let's not antagonize things further. But be ready if things turn south. "

Wrex said unfazed, "Wreav and I share the same mother." He took a step towards Wreav, "But nothing else."

Wreav snorted, "And for that I'm grateful. I still remember what it means being a true krogan and not pandering to salarians, humans...and turians."

Wreav's entourage growled approvingly of Wreav's stance, smashing their fists together. It was a power play of ancient times taking place as the two brood brothers tried to assert themselves.

Wreav glared at Mordin, "We flay our enemies alive and drown them in a geyser of their own blood. We don't invite them to our home."

Mordin once again noted the krogan flavor for being melodramatic. They always enjoyed their grand schemes of threats and doom for everyone that wasn't krogan.

Shepard countered sternly, "Fall in line or step aside. One way or the other we're curing the genophage today and you can be part of that or not, but this salarian is with me and he is not your enemy."

Wreav frowned and walked purposefully towards Shepard and Mordin. The krogan growled, "His kind gave us the genophage!" Wreav stopped near Shepard and continued, "Why should we trust him?"

Wrex sidestepped past Wreav and head butted his brood brother who growled in pain, clenching his hands over his hurt face. The surrounding krogan either growled approvingly or angrily depending on their allegiance.

Wrex said sternly, anger coming through, "Because I do." He continued with a warning, "And so will you Wreav."

Wreav growled angrily, glaring at his brood brother for his actions. Wreav pulled out a shotgun from his weapon harness and aimed it at Wrex. But before anything else could be said or done a krogan female voice was heard from top of the stairs.

"Enough!"

Everything stopped as those gathered turned their attention to Eve who had come through the door and was walking down.

Eve continued in a commanding voice, "You can stay here and let old wounds fester as krogan have always done." Eve pushed through the krogan and stopped at the top of the stairs to the burial shrine and turned to the assembled krogan, "Or you can fight the enemy you were born to destroy, and win a new future for our children. I choose to fight. Who will join me?"

Shepard took a step forward, "I will."

Grunt came up behind his battle master and declared, "Let's kill us a worthy enemy."

Wrex turned to face Wreav and his followers, "And so will I." He brushed past his brood brother and walked up to the stairs leading up to the exit. He declared vigorously and pointed at the door above the stair case, "Now hold your heads high like true krogan! There are enemies out there waiting to be killed!"

The assembled krogan, even a few of Wreav's followers, growled enthusiastically. Mordin turned and glanced at them. Eve had survived Maelon's experiments and became the only krogan female to survive the genophage. She had become a beacon of hope for the krogan that transcended through divisions. A promise for a better future.

Even Wreav turned to Wrex after a few moments and gave his brood brother an approving nod as he holstered his shotgun.

_Maybe there is still hope for the krogan._

* * *

The joint species fleet was spread out throughout the Aralakh-system. The two carriers, the _Ferrata_ and the Armstrong, had retreated to the fringe planets far away from Tuchanka and the relay to best support operations in space as well as planetside. Wolfpack-squadrons of cruisers and frigates used the larger asteroids in the belt as cover as they lied in wait to attack if need be. Dreadnoughts, supported by other cruisers and frigates, was either hiding behind planets or patrolling.

Joker was helming the Normandy, and several of his screens displayed a tactical overview of the allied forces while all communications channels, callsigns and other vital information was displayed on another monitor. With the press of a button he could interface with any ship, any squadron or get in touch with any commander he so desired. The Normandy wasn't the command ship nor did the overall theatre commander reside within, but the influence of the warship was still great. And so were its capabilities.

The latest communication from Shepard was that the krogan convoy would drive the half hour trek to the Shroud as additional krogan ground units converged in the area. EDI's scans suggested a massing of large Reaper ground units near the Shroud. Joker hoped that would be the only opposition for this operation, but his gut instincts told him to expect anything in this war.

The minutes ticked by and the joint species fleet scanned with its long range sensors and detected Reaper signatures emerging within range of the fleet from the direction of the relay. Sensors warned of a near hundred Reaper transports ships – raging from a few hundred meters to a kilometer in length- escorted by destroyers and capital ships. The allied forces sprung to action and engaged the incoming enemy force. Attacking with a wide array of weaponry; allied frigates, cruisers and dreadnoughts closed the distance to the enemy, but wary of the capabilities of the Reapers.

The unarmed Reaper transports pressed on as they headed for Tuchanka, taking light casualties. The commanders of the first allied responding force elected to focus on the escorts as the Wolfpack-squadrons hidden in the asteroid belt would engage the transports when they came within range.

Reaper Oculus interceptors harassed the allied ships who were locked in battle with the escorts, but soon human fighters joined the fray to protect the ships from the Oculus attacks. Despite the attacks the allied ships scored victories against the Reaper ships as they proceeded to utilize hit-and-run tactics; they attacked a Reaper ship and then they jumped to FTL where they could not be tracked before they proceeded to re-attack the enemy. Thus the allied commanders did everything they could to minimize casualties and loss of ships**. **But despite all the efforts, casualties were unavoidable and several allied ships were lost in the battle, but not before being able to exact a toll and destroying several Reaper ships in the process.

As time progressed a large group of transport ships neared Tuchanka. It was risky, but the Shroud was the priority, and a portion of the allied fleet was given the go ahead to intercept the Reaper transports.

They were attacked by a Wolfpack-squadron, a mixed unit of turian and human warships. The unarmed transports were easy prey for the allied ships who claimed many. However a Reaper capital ship arrived and shifted the balance. Despite maintaining the overall superiority the Wolfpack found itself in trouble and only sending further assistance in form of a turian dreadnought brought the situation under control and the enemy combat vessel was destroyed, but not without losses.

Despite the losses the distraction was successful and only a dozen of the Reaper transport ships breached the tuchankan atmosphere, heading towards the battlegrounds near the Shroud.

* * *

The large armored convoy of krogan Tomkah-vehicles bounced around on the damaged and rubble riddled highway leading towards the Shroud. Mordin was seated in one of the Tomkah's with Wrex, Grunt, Eve and Shepard while the rest of the team rode in one of the trailing vehicles. After Eve's rallying of the krogan, they had all massed at the waiting convoy, Wrex had apparently been adamant that the cure would be delivered by krogan means - he didn't abolish the assistance from other species - but Mordin suspected it was pride that had been the deciding factor. There was also the threat of heavy anti-aircraft batteries believed to be following the Reaper units. The Reapers would surely do anything they could to take out an incoming shuttle if it was spotted that needed to fly in low for insertion.

Not that riding in a Tomkah was any less dangerous of course, but the large convoy had the firepower to negate potential threats.

In all, neither insertion-scenarios were preferable, but it was the choice of one or the other.

Wrex had been standing at one of the consoles and been coordinating with the krogan units pushing towards the Shroud; the closer they got the heavier resistance was encountered which slowed them down, but too not much to jeopardize the timing for their arrival to secure the Shroud and the area from the encroaching Reaper ground forces.

Wrex returned to his seat in front of Eve.

Eve glanced at Wrex and said concerned, "What happened earlier with Wrev will not be the sole incident, this will be repeated. And there are more krogan than Wreav who wants revenge for the genophage. These individuals need to be placated somehow."

"I'll demand concessions from the Council, some of our old territory that was taken after the Rebellions as well as monetary reparations. We'll need room to expand, recapture the glory of the ancients and rebuild."

Mordin leaned forward and looked at the Clan Leader on the far side of the passenger compartment. The salarian scoffed, "'The glory of the ancients' led to the Krogan Rebellions in the first place. Countless deaths. Creation of genophage. Expansion plan...problematic."

Mordin leaned back in his seat.

With his helmet in his lap, Shepard turned to Eve, "Ancient krogan? Was it those you told Miranda and me about?"

Eve nodded, "Yes Commander. Back during more...prosperous days, for both for the krogan as a species and the planet, we were a proud people with dreams and a future to look forward."

Mordin chimed in remorseful, "Until salarian interference."

Eve shook her head, "No, nuclear winter and war between us happened long before salarians came to our planet. Technology changed us and made life to easy to live thus we only saw challenges in killing our own."

Wrex asserted, "And our planet has been in rubble since. We need a better place to live."

"And we will need to rebuild. Tuchanka and the krogan will always go hand in hand Wrex regardless of how many other planets we have," Eve said.

Shepard said diplomatic, "I'll wager that helping the war effort and defeating the Reapers would be worth a new planet."

"Or ten!" Wrex exclaimed. "You haven't seen how fast we can pop them out."

Eve sighed displeased, "Wrex..."

"What? We've a lot of catching up to do." Wrex said with a mischievous grin as he turned to face Eve.

Shepard said evenly, "Don't forget what you and I've spoken about Wrex. Handle this right and you can reap the benefits from it."

"You should listen to the Commander," Eve said and nodded approvingly of Shepard's words.

"I know Shepard, but we still need to hold our heads high," Wrex countered.

"Learn from the past Wrex, learn of the mistakes that were made otherwise you are doomed to repeat them."

Wrex nodded slowly and assured his friend, "The broken history of the past 1400 years is foremost in my mind Shepard. I know we can't afford to repeat it."

Shepard nodded and glanced at Grunt who had been silent since leaving the Hollows.

"How are you holding up Grunt?"

Grunt grinned devilishly, "My blood calls for the death of the machines invading my planet. I'm looking forward a good fight just like the old days, battle master, when the krogan fought the rachni and the turians."

"Just remember who the bad guys are Grunt."

Grunt chuckled menacingly, "We'll see."

"Grunt!" Shepard exclaimed annoyed.

Grunt laughed, "I'm just toying with you Shepard. Reaper bad, turian good."

Shepard shook his head, "You _are_ a pain in the ass, Grunt."

Grunt agreed with a grin, "Yeah."

In his earpiece Shepard heard Joker's distorted voice, _"Comma-...Do you cop-?"_

"Joker, what's going on? You are breaking up."

_"Stand-..."_ There was a slight pause before Joker was heard crystal clear, although his voice was distressed_, "Commander? Had to bump up the signal because of the background radiation. I've been trying to reach you for the past minutes."_

Shepard repeated concerned, "What's going on?"

_"The Reapers are here in force, destroyers and capital ships are about to belocked in battle with the fleet. Some transports ships got through and have breached the atmosphere. They're heading towards your AO."_

"Son of a- We're enroute to the Shroud. Patch me through to Victus."

_"You got it."_

Wrex noted Shepard's concerned grimace. His own communications suite wasn't dialed in with the Normandy at the moment. "What's going on Shepard?"

"Reaper ships are in system, and transport ships with ground forces are heading towards the Shroud."

Wrex spat angrily, "We can't let them take this opportunity away from us!"

Shepard nodded, "Agreed. We need to move fast. ETA to the Shroud?"

Wrex glanced at his omni-tool, "Fifteen minutes.

Shepard heard Victus' voice in his earpiece, _"Commander, what can I help you with?"_

Shepard asked, "What is happening out there, Primarch?"

Victus explained methodically, _"The Reapers are desperate to stop the cure. After a few initial skirmishes, a large fleet of Reapers ships entered the system. But we are ready for them. We intend to make the orbit of Tuchanka into a Reaper graveyard. And what is your status Commander?"_

Shepard explained, "We're fifteen minutes out from the target. With transports inbound I need CAS, Primarch."

It would be far easier and efficient going through Victus then contacting the turian fleet directly. Or even the Seventh Fleet.

_"Understood Commander. I'll get the strikers inbound to assist you." _Victus assured him, _"They'll be on station soon."_

"Thank you Primarch," Shepard said appreciatively.

The communications channel was shut down.

Shepard turned to Wrex, "We need the Horde now more than ever."

"They're advancing, Shepard."

* * *

The krogan convoy pushed through the rubble and the damaged highway without much trouble. As they neared the Shroud, EDI had informed Shepard that the ground-to-space cannon that had been seized days earlier was attacking the dozens of Reaper transports converging on the wastelands near the Shroud, but several transports still managed to slip through and unload the Reaper creatures.

The convoy drove up on a highway overlooking the desolate wasteland and destroyed buildings with the Shroud-tower far off into the distance.

Shepard held on to a hand rail on the wall near his seat as the vehicle soared off a ledge and crashed down on the highway below before it continued on. The Tomkah was a very versatile vehicle in the tuchankan terrain and wastelands.

In the intercom a turian fighter pilot's voice was heard as he patched into the krogan communications channel,_ "Spectre 0-1, Artimec 1-1 checking in. Strike Package 1, flight of six. Armed for atmospheric CAS. 4 missiles a piece for this section. We're enroute."_

Shepard responded, "Copy Artimec 1-1. We're on our way. Spectre Actual out."

_"Understood, second strike package is 10 minutes out."_

The channel was silent again.

Wrex nodded, "Good. I never thought I would say this, but we'll have good use of the turians. Pushing through the battlefields will be tough as it is with the machine creatures present."

The Tomkah suddenly jolted as it stopped in its track.

Wrex grimaced dumbfounded and rose from his seat and called out to the driver, "Why are we stopping?"

The krogan driver turned in his seat in the driver compartment, "The lead vehicles report obstruction ahead."

Wrex grunted annoyed.

Shepard rose from his seat and walked towards the hatch, "I'll check it out." Shepard radioed Miranda in one of the trailing Tomkah's, "Miranda get the team out. There's obstruction ahead."

_"Copy that," _Miranda responded.

Shepard secured his helmet and opened the hatch and jumped down on the ground below. The lead vehicles had stopped for some reason and there were several dismounted krogan around the massed vehicles. Shepard turned around and saw that the rest of the convoy had stopped as well. Miranda and the others exited the trailing Tomkah and secured their own helmets.

Miranda cut the distance too Shepard and she tilted her head to the left at the barren wasteland past the highway, "Lovely sight as ever."

Crumbled buildings sprawled out and what looked like an age-old Ferris wheel was located nearby.

Shepard nodded and turned to quickly gaze at the wasteland. In the distance there was heavy fighting raging on between the krogan Horde and the Reaper creatures; flashes and explosions was seen, the noise was muffled by the sheer distance.

Shepard sighed, "This could turn bad very quickly."

The rest of the team assembled near Shepard and Miranda.

Shepard turned to them, "Did you guys hear about the Reapers?"

Garrus nodded, "Yeah, we heard that they came through the relay earlier."

Zaeed scoffed and gestured towards the battlefields, "Don't tell us we're goin' in'er that cluster fuck Shepard."

Vega taunted near Zaeed, "What, you're getting weak old man?"

Zaeed snorted and gestured obscenely at Vega who chuckled as a response.

"I'm hoping we're not going into that. I'll see what the holdup is." Shepard radioed Wrex, "I think its better you guys stay inside the Tomkah, it's not looking good, there's a huge battle raging on in the distance."

_"Will do. I'm sending out Grunt."_

"Understood."

Shepard turned and hurried over to a krogan scout on the edge of the highway near the lead vehicles. Grunt linked up with his old team from the Collector mission and they followed Shepard.

Shepard looked out over the highway, it had collapsed at some point and parts of the road had fallen down, leaving large gaps in the road.

Shepard stopped behind the krogan scout and asked through his voice module, "We can't get through?"

The scout turned and shook his head, "No. How are we supposed to fight a war without a road? The convoy can't make it through it would collapse at the weight of the Tomkahs."

"Great," Vega murmured from behind.

Shepard radioed the incoming strikers, "Artimec 1-1, this is Spectre Actual, we've been delayed. Pull out and await further orders."

A confused voice was heard on their secure radio channel, _"Eh, could you repeat that Spectre 0-1? We've been relayed target info from recon UAV's and we're supporting the krogan push. We've already engaged. Time on target...now."_

The screeching sounds of dozens of missiles were heard overhead the highway as the weapons was guided down range. Shepard and the others turned to follow the missiles and moments later they struck a ridgeline in the distance and explosions could be seen.

"I hope the turians can aim," Vega mused as he looked out on the battlefield, "Would be bad if they struck friendlies."

Above them the unmistaken sound of mass effect engines were heard and Artimec-flight flew so low overhead that the overpass above the highway shook and dust and gravel fell down on Shepard and the others.

Garrus followed the turian fighters with his eyes as they unleashed yet another barrage of missile fire from their internal weapon bays before they switched to their mass effect cannons as they had depleted their weapons.

Garrus said, "Airstrikes alone - no matter how many - won't be enough. We've to get into the fight and deliver the cure." He turned to Shepard, "We've to get of this highway."

Zaeed grunted, "Pushin' our way though that ground battle'll take forever even if we would survive it."

As if all hell broke loose the sky over the battle was suddenly filled with anti-aircraft fire aimed at the turian fighters. The pilots put their training to good use and executed swift maneuvers to dodge the incoming rounds, trying to get off target and gain altitude as fast as possible.

Shepard cursed under his breath, "Damn it." He turned to the scout and ordered, "I don't care if we need to build ourselves a new road, we've to push on."

Garrus watched as a lone fighter was rocked by the heavy anti-aircraft fire as it sped away from the battle, but the pilot wasn't fast enough and a heavy round struck the turian fighter in the engine bay, black smoke and fire erupted.

Garrus exclaimed, "Spirits!"

Liara called out for Shepard, "John, a turian fighter is hit!"

Shepard turned around and saw the turian fighter rapidly losing altitude and plummeting towards the ground. Right towards the highway.

In their earpieces they heard the frantic voices of the pilots as they transmitted on the open radio channel.

_"Somebody's hit!"_

_"Artimec 1-3 is hit!_

_"3, what's your status?!"_

_"3 is egressing to the south-east. I'm losing control!"_

_"2 is defending east!"_

_"I can't pull up!"_

Shepard anticipated that the burning fighter would crash on the high way, "Move! Take cover!"

The team immediately scattered in every direction they could away from the anticipated point of impact, trying to find to find any kind of cover amongst the rubble hoping the fighter would miss them. An ear-deafening explosion erupted as the fighter crashed into the convoy, the shockwave sent shrapnel, vehicles, rocks and dismounted krogan flying in every direction. Anyone not caught in the mayhem was knocked to the ground by the shockwave. The fire of the explosion spread at a high speed and an intense heat burned and anyone unlucky enough with no helmet on had the air sucked out of their lungs.

A surprised Wrex called out over the radio as his Tomkah barely escaped the violent crash and ensuing explosion, _"Shepard, what's happening?!"_

Shepard was disoriented by the explosion but stumbled up to his feet feeling numb in his body, trying to take in the fiery bedlam in front of him as the first couple of lead vehicles of the large convoy had been taken out in the crash. Shepard grunted and shook his head trying to make sense of it all and regain his senses.

Shepard blurted out, "Wrex, get out of here now! Go!"

Without further ado, Wrex's vehicle and two trailing Tomkah's sped away, daring the damaged highway section in front of them as the damaged parts of it fell down due to the weight of the krogan vehicles, preventing any of the other two dozen surviving Tomkah's on the highway to proceed ahead. Soon Wrex and the other vehicle were on the other side, leaving Shepard's team and the carnage behind them.

Shepard turned around, trying to account for his team and asked concerned, "Everyone alright?"

He noted movement all around as his team picked themselves up from the ground. Fortunately everyone radioed in, albeit most was still taken aback by the crash.

Injured and charred dead krogan bodies riddled the portion of the highway, and screams from the injured could be heard as other krogan rushed to their fallen comrades to administer aid.

In Shepard's earpiece the turian flight leader hailed, _"Spectre Actual, this is Artimec 1-1, we're heading home to rearm. The flak is too heavy for us to provide effective CAS with guns only."_

"Understood, save your flight, we'll manage and find another way."

_"Copy. Second wave on approach and will engage in 8 minutes. Artimec 1 out."_

Shepard turned to the krogan scout who picked himself up from the ground. He seemed unharmed.

"Do you know a way out of here?"

The krogan looked around and found an opening on the other side of the road and pointed, "You could try that way human. It's likely some sort of maintenance tunnel but I don't know for how long it stretches or were to."

Shepard turned his attention to were the krogan was pointing. He nodded and turned to the scout, "Tend to your wounded. We'll continue on foot."

The scout rushed off to the carnage nearby.

Shepard reached for his rifle; going off into the dark unknown in Tuchanka probably wasn't very safe. He turned to the squad who assembled around him.

"Break out your weapons and let's go, we've a cure to deliver." Shepard turned his attention to Grunt, "You coming with us?"

Grunt nodded and reached for his weapon, "Yeah. Let's kill us some Reapers, Shepard."

The others readied their weapons and Shepard led them onward under the overpass to the vast wall that ran parallel with the highway. They entered the entrance and followed a short path leading up into the supposed maintenance tunnel.

Shepard radioed, "Wrex, we've taken the only way we could find; some kind of maintenance tunnel near the highway. Is everyone okay on your end?"

_"Yeah, we're alright here. Only a few scratches. The salarian is patching us up."_

"Good. Hopefully we'll find a way out of these tunnels."

_"Wreav's truck is tailing us plus another one so we got some additional firepower and soldiers with us."_

Shepard stopped at a ledge; apparently the path forward had collapsed. The daylight behind them was disappearing and the further they walked the darker it became so they switched on their tactical flashlights on their weapons to illuminate the path forward. Shepard aimed his rifle down the ledge; it was a short drop down to a new path leading into the tunnels.

"Always something Wrex. Stay away from the battlefields."

_"We will. The Horde is pushing forward to stop the Reaper forces advance on the Shroud."_

"Understood. The turian strikers turned home but a new wave is inbound." Shepard turned to the others and explained, "We've to jump down."

The others acknowledged and Shepard dropped down on the platform below. The team joined up one after one and they pushed on into the darkness and down a stone staircase leading into what resembled a large chamber.

Garrus said bewildered, "This doesn't look like any maintenance tunnel I've ever been in."

Miranda chimed in, "You are right. This seems like some kind of underground chamber of sorts. Ruins maybe."

Shepard stopped and panned his weapon around and tried to discern what kind of chamber they were in. The others did the same.

Wrex radioed, _"Shepard, where did you say you were again?"_

"It appears to be some kind of ruins. This is definitely no maintenance tunnel."

_"Alright. But we'll need to find you."_

"That'll be easier said than done, Wrex."

Wrex countered, _"You're a pathfinder Shepard. Get through there and we'll find a place to meet up."_

On the radio Eve chimed in, _"Commander, I suspect that you are in the city of the ancients."_

Shepard trekked forward with the others through the chamber down another flight of stairs; their flashlights illuminated the tunnel ahead.

Shepard asked, "So how do we get out?"

They left the stairs and they were in a new chamber. Shepard noted what looked like krogan statues in the corners of the room.

Eve said glum, _"I'm sorry Commander, but no maps exist. It's been abandoned for thousands of years."_

Garrus deadpanned, "From one predicament into the other."

A sudden and violent tremor shook the chamber and its occupants and dust and gravel fell from the ceiling, the sound was almost ear deafening. The team tried their best to remain standing and held on to anything they could find, a few of them fell to the ground.

Liara exclaimed, "What was that?"

Vega shouted, "It felt like an earthquake!"

The tremor subsided and the team members on the ground picked themselves up and retrieved any weapons dropped in the commotion.

"Fuckin' 'ell!" Zaeed cursed as he rose to his feet, "This place is in bad shape!"

"Agreed," Liara said, "We should get going before this place caves in on us. The krogan might build things that lasts but that was a violent earthquake."

Shepard ordered, "Let's move out people."

The team pressed down another set of stairs and further in to the catacombs which was sprawling underneath Tuchanka. Rubble, debris and caved in walls riddled the cold, dark and damp tunnels.

Short foreshocks were felt and another violent tremor shook the catacombs, knocking over most of the team.

"There it is again," Garrus said and tried to maintain his balance.

A strange but low howling was heard as the chamber continued to shake violently.

Zaeed called out, "But that was no earthquake Vakarian!"

Shepard almost tumbled over but he quickly prevented the fall as he reached out with his free hand on a large slab of rock on the ground and pushed himself up on his legs again. The tremor subsided, but short aftershocks continued and the team who scurried to their feet again.

Shepard radioed, "Wrex, do you feel those tremors as well?"

_"Tremors? No, we haven't noticed anything up here."_

Eve explained,_ "It could be something else Commander. It's said that Kalros, the mother of all tresher maws, lives in this region."_

Mordin interjected, _"Yes, quite possibly the origin of the tremors you're experiencing Shepard. This specific Shroud was chosen to be ground zero for the genophage just precisely because of Kalros. To keep krogan away from the construct. Or anyone else for that matter."_

Garrus exclaimed incredulous, "And you are telling us this now?!"

Wrex called out brusquely, _"Which is another reason to get your asses out of there now, Shepard. Step it up! Nothing's stopping this cure. No Reaper and no Kalros!"_

Garrus chuckled, "I love how concerned he is for our safety Shepard."

"Yeah," Shepard responded evenly.

Shepard and the others pressed on through the tunnels.

Liara sighed unamused, "Did I hear that right? 'The mother of all tresher maws'?"

"When they have a name for a tresher maw, you know you're in it deep," Garrus sad deadpanned. "They don't think anyone's going to kill it."

Zaeed quipped, "That's what I've always said; size does matter."

Grunt chuckled, "Just like my rite. Finally something big to kill."

"If the _'small ones'_ were difficult to kill I don't think I want to tangle with their mother." Shepard said uninspired.

"Hehe, you're no fun Shepard," Grunt said. "We would prove our worth if we killed it. Might garner ourselves a few new mating requests, eh Shepard?"

The others, sans Miranda, laughed good-naturedly as the young krogan teased their leader.

Miranda sided with Shepard, "Giant tresher maws and Reapers, nothing's ever simple, is it?"

They entered yet another large chamber with a high ceiling and a krogan statue in each and every corner. In the middle of the chamber there was a strange looking crumbled statue in stone.

Shepard swept the room with his rifle but couldn't see any exit; their flashlights were good but not that good.

Shepard ordered, "Fan out and find the exit out of this room. Don't get lost, I doubt our blue force trackers works well underground."

The others acknowledged his order and began searching.

Liara had wondered of a few meters from Shepard to a large mural and aimed her SMG towards it to discern what it was. Upon illuminating it she saw some kind of ancient cave painting with three krogan kneeling in front of another krogan wearing a ceremonial dress and a staff in hand.

"Fascinating," Liara said and gazed upon it. Her archeological mind was filled with theories and assessments.

Shepard and Miranda walked up to Liara and swept the wall with their weapons.

Miranda agreed, "Definitely, it seems the krogan once had a...artistic side to them."

"Could the one in the robe be a female?" Shepard pondered.

Miranda nodded, "Perhaps, Eve did say that krogan females had a much larger role in their ancient society."

"This isn't a side of them we've seen before. It implies some sort of...culture," Liara mused. "A culture beyond the current day of violence."

"Yeah, Eve had some fascinating things to say about the ancients a while back," Shepard said.

Miranda speculated, "The character in the robe is most likely some kind of leader or maybe a shaman."

Liara lamented, "So much have been lost in wars. It's sad. How different they could've been if they had progressed in another direction rather than violence."

"They might have a second chance now," Shepard said and turned around and swept the room with his weapon. He noted Vega on the other side of the room, looking up on a mural himself.

Shepard called out, "Admiring the art as well James?"

Vega chuckled and gestured at the wall, "Yeah, the krogan could paint once. I think I've found what's crawling around here. It's scary looking."

Shepard walked over with Liara and Miranda in tow. As they came closer they stopped nearby and gazed at the painting of a tresher maw illuminated by Vega's rifle.

Liara pointed out, "This means she is at least as old as the ruins."

"And probably not in scale," Miranda said evenly. "Let's get out of here John."

Shepard turned and grinned behind his faceplate, "Scared Ms. Lawson? Don't worry, I'll protect you."

Miranda said playfully, "Shut up Commander, I'm no damsel in distress."

Liara had wandered off to an adjacent wall and drew everyone's attention to her as she aimed her SMG at another mural, "Here's something else. Looks like krogan...riding on some kind of large animal."

Vega turned and walked over and mused, "They sure like their pets big."

Shepard and Miranda followed suite and stopped nearby.

Shepard pondered, "Resembles...what a rhino or...some kind of dinosaur?"

Vega chuckled, "Cool. Always liked dinosaurs."

From a tunnel not far away they heard Grunt's voice, "Shepard! Get over here! We've found something!"

"On our way." Shepard said and gestured for the others to follow.

Shepard and his entourage found their way to the tunnel were Grunt was who led them to another room where Garrus and Zaeed was standing over a strange looking corpse, illuminated by their flashlights.

Garrus looked up at his friend, "This...is interesting." He then looked down on the floor. "A reaperfied...rachni?"

Zaeed chimed in, "And there's a few dead krogan 'ere as well. One 'ell ov a fight took place." He swept his weapon around the room to show the newcomers the dead.

Shepard took in the sight of the dead krogan before he turned his attention back to the strange creature on the floor. It had four legs and a large sack for a belly, it also looked like it had two barrel-like extensions around its head, resembling a turret.

Grunt stood near Shepard and kicked the sack a few times.

Shepard protested, "Grunt don't-"

But before he could continue voicing his concern about Grunt's behavior, the sack suddenly burst open and a yellow liquid seeped out and dead multi-legged large spiderlike creatures fell out. The team jolted back a bit by the sight.

Shepard sighed tiredly, "Don't touch things Grunt."

"Right."

Liara said appalled, "Disgusting."

Garrus asked Shepard deadpanned, "Didn't you kill the queen on Noveria? I've a distinct memory of that, because I was standing right next to you."

Shepard nodded, "I thought so too." He radioed Wrex to warn him, "Wrex, it seems we have rachni here. Be careful."

_"I know, a few just attacked us but we killed them. It doesn't matter, we need to get to the Shroud. Find an exit fast Shepard."_

"We'll continue through the catacombs, hopefully we will find the surface. Shepard out."

Grunt mused, "Hard to believe this might be rachni. Seems crazy. A chance to face the old enemy?" He turned to Shepard and exclaimed excited, "Impossible to resist!"

Shepard said evenly, "You wish might come true then."

Grunt chuckled menacingly, "Fighting with you again is good. You always find something big for me to kill."

* * *

The space battle raged on as more Reaper ships of various classes entered through the relay. Hundreds of transport ships headed towards Tuchanka escorted by destroyers and a capital ship. Parts of the turian fleet supported by several Wolfpack-squadrons of mixed human and turian ships stationed near the planet engaged the enemy and saw initial successes as the Reapers lacked Oculus cover for the moment; most Oculus had already been destroyed or was harassing the large allied fleet battling the incoming Reapers from the relay.

The earlier liberated ground-to-space cannon manned by a contingent of marines attacked the capital ship escorting the transports while the fleet focused their attention on the transports and destroyers. It was believed that the destroyers were heading towards Tuchanka with the objective to support the Reaper ground forces pushing towards the Shroud to destroy it.

After a relentless attack on the capital ship it was destroyed in atmosphere after absorbing a staggering amount of punishment from the ground cannon as well as from effective fire from a human dreadnought supported by turian cruisers. The destroyers either turned to engage the allied forces or pressed on through the atmosphere, but those destroyers entering Tuchanka's atmosphere didn't come very far as they were quickly destroyed by the ground-cannon.

The half a dozen destroyers that turned to protect the ships heading for Tuchanka managed to latch on to several frigates, immobilizing them, and fired their deadly main guns into the ships which effectively destroyed or damaged them, leaving them floating dead in space. But soon enough the destroyers had been take out or crippled as additional allied reinforcements arrived to assist the allied forces under fire.

Half of the transport ships had managed to survive the onslaught from the allied ships and the ground-cannon, and landed near the battlefields on Tuchanka. The Reaper forces poured out into the wastelands and joined the fight against the krogan as they continued the push against the Shroud which was protected by the krogan Horde. The new Reaper ground reinforcements also doubled the anti-aircraft shield over the vast battlefield, making it further difficult for air strikes to close in.

The krogan ground forces, supported by armored vehicles, had pushed into the vicinity of the Shroud. Although they were far away and had not been able to deploy a guard force nearby and thus the Shroud was still exposed but the krogan had enough forces nearby to make it difficult for the Reaper advance. In the air, human and turian fighter and fighter bombers launched wave after wave of attacks on the enemy ground forces, they received real time targeting from turian unmanned drones high up in the skies, and by using stand-off weapons the allied air cover had sustained very few casualties, increasing the morale of the aircrews. The lack of Oculus interceptors as well as Reaper destroyers and capital ships on the surface of Tuchanka played a big part in the low aerial casualties as the allied fleets battled those enemy forces in space.

* * *

Shepard's team had continued through the vast catacombs and came upon a large staircase leading up, and on the top they saw daylight through an large wall opening.

"Hallelujah! We found an exit!" Vega exclaimed pleased behind Shepard as they proceeded upwards.

"Finally," Liara said relieved.

Shepard radioed, "Wrex, it seems we've found a way out."

_"Good work Shepard! I'll see if we can't get a fix on you when you get out of the ruins so we can pick you up."_

"Copy that Wrex."

The team emerged from the darkness inside a vast chamber on top a platform overlooking a hall below were sunlight sipped through large narrowing wall openings below.

Liara said amazed by the ruins, "In my younger days I would've loved to have spent time here studying these ruins. Think of the secrets that could be uncovered."

Vega chimed in, "Makes you wonder what they could have been capable of doing if they hadn't nuked themselves."

Liara nodded, "Indeed."

Shepard pressed on with the others in tow on the platform as they found a ramp leading up through a large opening in the wall. They arrived outside on a vast court yard surrounded by ancient ruins, crumbled statues and walls. The ground was riddled with rubble and part of the court yard had collapsed and created a trench system sprawling throughout and a gorge split the ruins in the middle and the only way to get to the other side of the court yard was going over a partially collapsed bridge on the far side of the court yard. But what was amazing was the appearance of fertile soil, plants and what resembled tree roots sprawling across the area and pushing through the stones on the ground.

Shepard radioed once again, "Wrex, we're outside now."

_"Yeah, your locators are popping up on my screen here. If you see sunlight you are making progress."_

Liara interjected in amazement, "And we see plants and the color green Wrex. I thought plants were extinct on Tuchanka."

Vega pondered, "I guess they didn't manage to destroy everything then."

Eve's hopeful voice was heard, _"You are all looking at hope. All that's left of it on Tuchanka. Our planet was once fertile and beautiful and if given a chance it can be again."_

Wrex grunted,_ "Yeah yeah, we can admire the flowers later. The Reapers are still pushing towards the Shroud despite bombardment and the Horde's efforts to protect the Shroud. We need to link up with you and deliver the cure. Find a way out of there."_

"We're on it Wrex." Shepard called out and he darted forward with the others.

When the radio channel was silent Liara mused, "Maybe Eve's right. If the genophage is cured it might lead to another renaissance."

"So long as it keeps the...unstable elements of the krogan appeased." Miranda said seriously.

Garrus said, "Seeing all this makes you wonder. It could happen."

"But only if Eve and Wrex manages to soothe those seeking revenge will there be a chance for the krogan to live amongst the other races," Miranda pointed out.

Zaeed snorted in the back, "I agree. Are yew sure about this Shepard?"

Behind Zaeed, Grunt made an annoyed noise at his words.

Shepard sighed as he cleared a walkway, "We've graver concerns then some pissed of krogan at the moment."

Zaeed glanced at Grunt, "I guess not everyone's a nice guy like Grun' 'ere."

Grunt chuckled guttural, "Yeah."

Vega quipped, "Look at it this way Zaeed, there'll be more work for you as a mercenary if the shit hits the fan with the krogan."

The team pushed on with their weapon at the ready, they cleared a walkway and cut through the trenches until they found a way up to the partially collapsed bridge over the gorge. They jumped over the gap in the bridge with Shepard and Garrus on point. The two of them took up position on the other side behind parts of a fallen pillar and covered the others who crossed the bridge and joined up. The team spread out past the bridge, clearing the immediate area.

From the corner underneath a overpass on the opposite side of the court yard the sudden appearance of several groups Cannibals supported by two rachni emerged and quickly attacked, halting the team's advance.

Garrus called out and opened fire with his assault rifle, "Contact!"

"Engage!" Shepard ordered and opened fire as well with his Harrier at the incoming enemies.

As Shepard and Garrus provided cover fire the best they could, the others darted for cover as fast as they could. The walking rachni turrets quickly covered the court yard with targeting lasers and opened fire with their heavy explosive rounds, they covered the advance of the Cannibals who pressed on.

"Finally some action!" Grunt called out enthusiastically and opened fire with his spike thrower at a gaggle of Cannibals taking cover in the trenches in front of them.

Grunt laughed guttural as a Cannibal was perforated by one of his spikes to the ground, it screamed in agony as Grunt continued firing at it, but soon enough he took cover as one of the rachni's opened fire at him, blowing of large chunks of stone from the cover he was behind.

Shepard and Garrus were behind cover and reloaded their weapons.

"We need to flank them before they take us out!" Shepard said, trying to formulate a plan of action as his entire team was on the defense near the bridge.

Garrus pulled out a grenade from one of his pouches. He quickly rose to his feet and hurled it down the trenches in front of them before he returned down behind the cover; it detonated on top of a Cannibal and killed it.

"I'm on it!" Grunt responded.

Grunt holstered his spike thrower on his back and retrieved his Striker, a krogan manufactured fully-automatic assault rifle more akin to a grenade launcher than a regular rifle. The devastating weapon fired high-impact slugs which detonated on contact.

"Grunt! Don't do anything stupid!" Shepard cautioned under duress as his and Garrus' cover was being withered down by the incoming fire from the rachni.

Grunt didn't listen and charged from cover and flanked the rachni creatures on their left side, they were oblivious to the krogan charge.

Grunt called out "I AM KROGAN!" and aimed his weapon at the rachni and held down the trigger, launching several high-explosive slugs at the enemies with a devastating effect on the two rachni.

The explosive rounds ripped apart the sacks of the closest rachni and the spider-like creatures emerged, alive this time. But the swarms of the small creatures didn't possess any real threat as they were quickly killed by the slugs from Grunt's Striker.

The first rachni succumbed to Grunt's attack and fell to the ground in a bloody pile of synthetic parts, but the second one turned its attention to the krogan and opened fire. Grunt, who had exhausted his weapon's thermal clip, didn't have time to reload and quickly darted down a trench as the rounds from the rachni exploded all around him. His shields absorbed most of the shrapnel that hit his armor and he ducked down to avoid the incoming fire.

As there was a lull in the heavy attack on the rest of the team, they turned out from cover and attacked the enemy with small arms fire and biotics. Liara and Miranda effectively used their biotic skills and combined the effects of Liara's singularity and a warp attack from Miranda that killed two Cannibals who had been caught in the singularity.

In his trench, Grunt was attacked by a Cannibal who had retreated back from the surge of gunfire from Shepard's team. The creature opened fire at the krogan who, instead of reloading his weapon, fired up his fortification shields and charged the lone creature knocking it to the ground. Grunt ignored the shots that had been directed at him and took a firm grip of his weapon's handguard and hit the Cannibal over and over again on its head with the rifle's stock until it died on the ground in a messy pulp of its own blood.

Above the trenches, Shepard's team instead directed its fire at the injured rachni and duly killed it in a devastating small arms fire and biotic attack. But there was still a group of Cannibals left in the trenches closer to the overpass firing at them.

Grunt had reloaded his Striker and pushed on through the trenches and kept low as possible to avoid detection, following the sounds of gunfire and strange noises from the Cannibals ahead of him. He came up behind them, there were four of them, and he opened fire. The explosive rounds quickly decimated the gaggle of Cannibals in the trench who didn't have time to react quickly enough.

Shepard noted the lull in gunfire and peered out of cover. He called out into his mouthpiece over their secure radio channel, "Grunt?! Are you alright?"

Grunt nonchalantly growled, "Yeah. They're all dead."

"Good work," Shepard praised and vaulted over the cover. The rest of the team left cover and followed him to the trench system were Grunt climbed up and waited for them.

Garrus quipped, "Spirits do I miss having a krogan on the team." He glanced at Grunt's weapon and pointed out seriously, "I need me one of those Shepard."

Shepard chuckled.

Vega commented in disbelief from behind, "Loco, were do you find these guys? A cold blooded mercenary, a weapon crazy turian and now this krogan! You sure hangout with some interesting characters."

Shepard mused to himself, _and you haven't met Jack yet._

The team stopped near Grunt who grinned as he glanced at the carnage, "Anyone hungry?"

Shepard shook his head, "We're fine Grunt." He turned to the others, "Everyone alright?"

A plethora of positives was called out and Shepard nodded relieved.

* * *

The battle raged on as a third wave Reaper fleet entered the system, this time a much larger concentration of ships. The allied fleet commanders had decided to focus their effort primarily on the destroyers and capital ships and let the transport ships and their escorts slip through and instead let the Wolfpack squadrons screening the asteroid field and the ground-to-space cannon destroy as many as possible. It was a dangerous decision as it could lead to that the Reaper ground forces on the planet could gain foothold on the battlefields against the krogan Horde. The allied fleet's saving grace was the turian-designed Thanix-cannon which now saw wide spread use amongst human and turian ships, including an up-scaled version used by dreadnoughts.

Inside the Normandy, the CIC complement was working hard, plotting target data, managing the ships status and its surroundings while EDI worked her electronic warfare defense suite and in conjunction with the still installed Reaper IFF made it further difficult – but not impossible – for the Reapers to track and target the Normandy. An allied Task Force had fallen into disarray in an attempt to slow down several capital ships speeding towards Tuchanka, the turians had lost a dreadnought while the Alliance dreadnought Makalu was badly damaged and vented atmosphere and was trying to flee the battle. The Task Force had frantically called for help and the Normandy was the first responder, a turian Task Force was a few light-minutes behind. The ensuing chaos resulted in a close range brawl between the allied forces and the Reapers as the formations passed each other, both sides dealt and received severe damage but the allied fleet took the brunt of it.

With the assistance of the Reaper IFF, the Normandy had approached and managed to deal a severe blow to one of the capital ships and also destroyed one destroyer and damaged another one. Hitting light-speed, the Normandy resorted to a hit-and-run tactic before shortly returning to the battle again; by this time the turian force had joined the fray. The Normandy and the turian dreadnoughts and cruisers claimed the badly damaged Reaper while the rest of the turian ships harassed the Reapers enough for the damaged task force to either turn its intact ships around to re-engage or let the damaged ships disengage to save themselves. Onboard the Makalu the crew had contained the venting of the atmosphere so the commander opted to return to save his badly stricken task force. The addition of the Makalu helped turn the tide as the second capital ship was defeated, leaving the destroyers a much easier prey for the allied forces.

The ground-to-space cannon had proved to be a very tactical addition keeping away attacking ships. But it had not gone unscathed during the battle, more than once did the Reapers try and attack it but combined with the Wolfpack squadrons and the devastating effects of the cannon such attacks had been repelled. But the Reapers was now on the offensive with the third wave, dozens of destroyers neared Tuchanka, and the battered Wolfpack squadrons engaged the enemy and did well despite losses, but several destroyers pushed through the defenses and advanced on the planet with the intention of destroying the giant krogan cannon.

The cannon fire was relentless but despite the Alliance marines best efforts a single destroyer managed to get through. It had positioned itself behind the cannon, making it impossible for the cannon-crew to attack the destroyer. The frontal plates folded away and exposed its powerful beam weapon and it attacked the ancient krogan weapon. The powerful rounds fired at the base turned it into a sea of fire, causing a dreadful devastation and ghastly chaos. The buildings and cannons caved in and swathes of thick smoke rose to the sky. The base was soon destroyed and the Reaper leaped of the ground and proceeded to fly to its next target hundreds of kilometers away; the battlefields near the Shroud.

* * *

**_CAS: Close Air Support_**

**_AO: Area of Operations_**

**_Makalu is the fifth highest mountain in the world (8,481 meters; 27,825 ft), borders between Nepal and China._**

**_Ideas about expanding the scope of the battle of Tuchanka was tossed around and developed with xXserialkillerXx_**_._


	34. Battle for Tuchanka: Part 2

Shepard's team had advanced through the ruins and were fighting in another vast court yard riddled with natural trenches and ground deformations, they had been ambushed by Cannibals and a Brute supported by two reaperfied rachni that were pushing through an archway in front of them. Shepard had split his team in two separate squads; Garrus had taken Vega and Grunt with him on a flanking maneuver while Shepard had brought the rest up to a platform in an attempt to trap the Reapers in a kill zone. The Cannibals had been quickly and promptly taken care of, but the Brute pushed on through the gun fire supported by one of the rachni turrets who bombarded the platform and Shepard's squad. The other rachni bombarded Garrus' squad who was behind a large fallen column.

Shepard and his squad was bunkered down behind a low wall up on the platform; the wall wouldn't support them for much longer as the incoming rounds from the rachni was tearing away at the rock, and the hulking Brute was slowly moving through the court yard towards the platform with intent on getting up there and killing the squad. The creature was almost impervious to the small arms fire from Garrus' squad and they were also unable to get enough rounds down range because of the second rachni engaging them.

Vega, seeing his friend and commanding officer under siege, dropped his Valkyrie-rifle on the ground and reached for his disposable missile launcher. With a flick of a switch he turned off the guidance system and dared the explosive rounds from the rachni. He aimed through the sights and gauged the Brutes advance and launched one of the missiles and darted back to cover when the explosive rounds came to close.

The missile sped through the court yard, leaving a plume of smoke behind it and struck the Brute in the upper body. The armor-piercing round ripped apart the body and the large creature fell to the ground and made a guttural sound is it died on the path near the platform.

Vega exclaimed enthusiastic as he holstered the missile launcher and retrieved his rifle from the ground, "Yeah! That's how it's done!"

Garrus called into his mouthpiece, "The Brute is down, Shepard!"

"Roger, let's get these rachni as well!"

Grunt had reloaded his Striker and peered out of cover and fired at archway were the two rachni was located. His explosive slugs ripped apart the sack on the one that targeted the platform and the small creatures poured out. The injured rachni turned to the column and continued its relentless firing, prompting Grunt to head back to cover.

Grunt exclaimed, "We got their attention!"

Because of to the lull in the bombardment of the platform, Shepard's squad could now return fire again.

Shepard ordered his followers, "Let's take them out!"

The squad rose from cover and fired their weapons and unleashed biotics down the archway, both Shepard and Zaeed hurled grenades at the targets and the rachni was quickly overwhelmed. Garrus' squad quickly joined as well and the two rachni were duly killed. All enemies were down.

"Targets down!" Garrus called out.

Instead, Grunt continued fired several explosive slugs were the rachni had been, killing the small crawling creatures. He chuckled, "_Now_ they're all dead."

"Sound off people!" Shepard ordered.

The squad reported in and with the exception of some burns and dented armor everyone was alright.

"Good, let's link up."

Shepard walked down the path with his squad and was soon joined by Garrus and the. They quickly reloaded their weapons.

Slowly and steady the ground began to vibrate, shaking the court yard ever so lightly. A rumbling noise increased as it got closer to their location.

Vega said flustered, "Anybody hear that? It's a, um... It's a tremor, that's what it is... I'm fairly alarmed here."

The rumbling sound increased and the shocks became more violent as dust and gravel rained down from the overpass and walls. It wasn't as violent as those they had experienced in the catacombs and the squad could still remain on their feet.

"Yeah, Kalros is back," Garrus pointed out the obvious.

Shepard radioed, "Wrex, Kalros is on the move!"

_"I know! We're close to your position, just worry about getting out of there right now."_

"Any ideas?"

_"It looks like there's a bridge up ahead, try and find it. The bridge connects to a ceremonial monument leading out into the wasteland, we can pick you up there."_

"Understood."

Vega asked incredulous, "Wait? What? We're going out into the dunes? Were this worm lives?"

Wrex countered casually, _"Didn't say it was going to be easy."_

Garrus chuckled, "Damn Krogan."

Suddenly Joker's voice cut into their radios, _"Commander? We got a bit of a problem."_

"What else is new?" Shepard asked sardonically.

Joker didn't sound optimistic, _"A Reaper destroyer got through the fleets and it just destroyed the cannon-base and is heading towards the battlefield. ETA is 5 minutes. Joker out."_

Shepard sighed, "Copy that."

Shepard motioned for his team to follow and they began traversing the court yard towards the archway.

Wrex pressed, _"That means you've to move it Shepard!" _By now Wrex had evidently dialed into the radio channel to the Normandy.

Liara said glum, "Dealing with the Reaper when we get there will be another matter entirely."

Wrex's voice was heard again, _"Yeah, we got some ideas on that- What?"_

The krogan stopped in mid-sentence and there was a slight moment of pause.

Eve chided, _"Not now Wrex! The Commander has enough to worry about."_

Shepard's team cleared the archway and headed into another court yard.

Shepard leaned out from behind a wall and swept the court yard through his weapon scope and asked, "What's going on?"

Wrex grunted, _"Some crazy idea we can talk about later. Find the bridge and the ruins leading out of there and we'll pick you up."_

Shepard assured, "We're on it Wrex."

* * *

The pause in combat gave Grunt a few moments to take in the scenery in front of him as they continued through the court yard. He had never been at the city of the ancients but had heard stories about it during his continued initiation rites for Clan Urdnot after he had left the Normandy. He had grown an interest in the krogan history, past the slanted views of Okeer and found it interesting.

Especially the wars.

Until taken in by Wrex he hadn't cared much about anything but violence. But now? The honor of commanding his own troops, Wrex's best unit, was unmatched.

He was the krogan future.

He had a purpose.

When he first set foot on Tuchanka he had considered the planet barely worth standing on. He couldn't understand how other krogan revered it as much as they did. But now he was proud of the planet which he called is home. And the Reapers were invading it. He could focus his rage on the invaders. There were a lot of good fights to come.

They found a passageway leading the bridge Wrex had mentioned. The squad passed two krogan statues under the overpass at the beginning of the bridge. They were now outside the city of the ancients, the tall walls towered above them and the bridge led out to a giant ruin, a memorial for fallen krogan.

Shepard led them on to it, but sudden violent vibrations shook his team and the bridge.

Wrex called out over the radio net under duress, _"Shepard! Kalros is moving under the dunes towards the bridge! Get down so we can get to the Shroud!"_

Shepard stumbled but remained on his feet. "Yeah, we noticed that!"

Underneath the bridge the three Tomkah's sped by, the gunners in the two trailing vehicles fired the multi-barreled weapons at their rear.

From underneath the sand the giant back fins of _'the mother of all tresher maws'_ shot through the ground, shaking the immediate area violently. Kalros pushed on, chasing the krogan trucks, and passed through the bridge without much care, the sheer force of the giant creature broke the bridge in half creating a gap.

Shepard and his team watched in fear and astonishment on their part of the bridge.

Wrex shouted, _"We're breaking of, we need to get away from her before we can pick you up!"_

Mordin interjected worried, _"Kalros' territorial instinct confirmed. Problematic!"_

_"She's not gonna get us!"_

The trucks accelerated away and continued firing their weapons, but the explosive rounds didn't even make a dent on the giant creature's exposed back. The violent quakes subsided slightly as the trucks and Kalros got further away.

"Christ that thing is huge!" Shepard exclaimed as he watched the three trucks drive away through the ruins and the dunes below with Kalros trailing them. He had clearly underestimated the size of it.

Even Grunt was taken aback by the enormous sight of the 'mythological' beast.

Vega said in a low voice, "Now I'm kind of glad we're not in the truck."

"Things just keeps getting' better and better isn't, Shepard?" Garrus said sardonically.

Zaeed Exclaimed, "That's a big fucker, Shepard!"

"Let's not linger. We've to push on," Miranda urged taking in the enormity of what was happening.

Liara watched the as the back fins of the tresher maw disappeared past the memorial. She couldn't believe what she was seeing and she only muttered, "Goddess."

Wrex's voice was heard again, _"Shepard go on ahead and we'll pick you up on the other side of the memorial ruins. We'll try and shake this thing and find you!"_

"Copy," Shepard responded and pressed on over the bridge with the others. At the far end was the gap made by Kalros and they leaped of one edge to the other to get over the bridge.

Mordin had fear in his voice, _"Tresher maw is getting closer!"_

Wrex growled, _"Tell me something I don't know!"_

Shepard led his team past two giant krogan statues into the vast memorial structure. They passed through a passageway down a stair case into a court yard surrounded by even larger krogan statues.

Mordin pointed out under hardship, _"Metal in truck and excellent supplement for maw's diet."_

Liara stated unamused, "This planet is one giant deathtrap."

Garrus chuckled, "And the thing is, I bet Wrex thinks this is exciting."

Miranda muttered, "Exciting is hardly the word I would choose."

Grunt growled, "And what is it not to enjoy? Big things to kill and violence. It can't get any better!"

The team cut through the court yard as fast as they could and hurried up another flight of stairs coming up on a platform with a small obelisk-like pillar in the middle. The platform extended into a much larger platform of obelisks, krogan statues and fallen columns.

Arriving on the large platform of statues, Shepard's team was attacked by a group of Cannibals lead by Marauders.

Shepard called out, "Contact up front!"

The hostiles began open fire at their direction and everyone darted to cover behind the base structures of statues and pillars.

Grunt leaned out of cover with his Striker and fired several explosive slugs at a Marauder but the shields were still protecting it and the Marauder merely staggered from the hits. A tech attack from Miranda drained the creature's shields and Grunt fired several more slugs which duly killed the creature, and Grunt returned to cover to reload his powerful weapon.

Garrus said, "Looks like another shooting gallery. What was it you said James? Shooting fish in a barrel?"

Garrus fired his assault rifle in short controlled bursts at a Cannibal and killed the creature with a concussive shot. He quickly switched targets and fired at a Marauder but only managed to drain the Reaper's shields before he had to turn to cover and reload his rifle.

"You got that one right Scars!" James shouted back after killing a Cannibal with an explosive round from his Valkyrie.

As part of their standard repertoire of attacks, Liara unleashed a singularity at a gaggle of two Cannibals and moments later the unstable dark energy matter detonated by a warp from Miranda.

On their right flank Shepard and Zaeed wasted no time and hurled a grenade each down range behind a base structure of a pillar, the grenades detonated and killed a Marauder. Retrieving their rifles the two soldiers fired in controlled bursts at whatever targets they saw popping up from behind cover.

Their earpieces came alive and Mordin's rapid voice was heard, _"Shepard! Wrex busy driving! Are you still alive?"_

A triangulated cross fire from Shepard, Zaeed and Garrus duly killed the last Marauder. The Cannibals were on their own.

"Yeah, we're alive. We encountered creatures inside the memorial," Shepard answered as he reloaded his rifle behind cover. "What about you?"

"_Alarmed yet entertained. Kalros is quite persistent."_

If it had been under different circumstances Shepard would have chuckled at Mordin's scientific mind, but he had other things to focus on.

From behind the statues and pillars a group of Husks emerged and rushed towards Shepard's team.

Garrus warned, "Watch it! Incoming Husks!"

Shepard's team spread out amongst the cover counter-attacked the Husks with a combination of biotics and gunfire, the impressive volley of fire quickly negated the Husks.

Shepard turned his attention to the last remaining Cannibals on the platform. Focusing his fire at them he absentminded heard Wrex's and Wreav's voices bickering over the radio net to close the formation but Shepard didn't give the chatter any attention as he was pushing adrenaline through his body. He methodically fired in controlled bursts and reloaded his weapon before it overheated.

Zaeed killed the last remaining Cannibal with a concussive shot.

"Target down!" Zaeed growled satisfied.

Silence spread over the platform and the only thing heard was the howling wind between the ruins.

"Clear?" Liara asked scanning the area in front.

"Possibly." Vega answered.

Shepard gestured for Zaeed to follow him and they moved slowly forward and cleared the pillars and structures where the last targets had been seen.

Shepard informed, "Yes, all clear."

Wrex growled, _"Shepard! We've almost lost Kalros, get down from the memorial and we'll pick you up!"_

Shepard ordered, "On me!"

The rest of the team acknowledged his orders and darted away from cover and quickly joined up. Shepard turned around and walked over to the edge of the memorial ruins, it was a small drop to the dunes below and he heard the big engines of the three trucks getting closer.

Around the corner of the memorial the convoy of three Tomkah's emerged and fanned out, providing cover with their cannons.

Wrex barked out orders, _"Shepard, got over to the lead truck! Wreav, keep an eye out for that maw!"_

Wreav growled, _"Make it quick Wrex! We're exposed!"_

Wrex drove the Tomkah closer to the platform as Shepard rushed out to it. Behind him the others dropped down from the platform and ran towards the truck. The hatch opened and Garrus was the first one inside. Shepard stopped by one of the large wheels with his rifle at the ready, scanning the platform they had come from.

Shepard gestured and shouted for the others to hurry, "Move it!"

One by one did the team crawl into the truck.

But Kalros was back. A violent tremor shook the ground and the surrounding ruins. It front of Wrex's truck sand, dirt and rocks erupted from underneath and moved at terrifying sped towards the convoy. A loud rumbling and high pitched wailing was heard. The beast's back fins shot through the ground past Wrex's truck and the beast's giant mouth consumed one of the trailing trucks in a whirlwind of sand.

Zaeed was the last one who ran past Shepard, "Fuck me! Did yew see that?"

Shepard growled, "Get in!" and followed the mercenary through the hatch and quickly discarded his rifle on the floor and turned around to lock the hatch behind them. Twisting the handle of the locking-mechanism counter-clockwise the hatch sealed them in.

Shepard barked to Wrex, "We're in, GO!"

Wrex pushed the throttle forward and sped away from the ruins towards the Shroud. The surviving Tomkah followed suite as the giant tresher maw focused its rage on the truck and tore it apart.

Eve asked from her seat, "What about the others?"

Wrex grunted as the Tomkah bounced across the dunes, "No way they survived that. And Wreav was in that Tomkah and he was always a pain in the ass anway. Now let's finish this, there's a cure waiting to be delivered."

* * *

Kilometers away from the city of the ancients the ground battle raged on. Despite Reaper reinforcements the krogan Horde had pushed through and cleared a path near the Shroud but had still not secured it. But for the moment the Reaper ground forces hadn't reached it either so both forces was at a stalemate fighting a ground battle not unlike the trench war of World War 1.

The krogan had brought with them self-propelled howitzer which supported the offensive. The krogan fired the heavy rounds over the Horde at the enemies and pounded the ridgelines as the Horde pressed on. Human and turian fighter and fighter bombers, assisted by UAVs as the krogan lacked any kind of forward observers, launched heavy air strikes against the Reaper ground units. Despite heavy anti-aircraft presence, the allied air strikes fared well, launching their stand-off missiles far away to minimize casualties.

After hundreds of kilometers of hard flying, the destroyer touched down on the battlefield turning the tide for the Reaper ground forces. Its destructive main weapon fired relentlessly at the Horde which made it possible for the Reaper creatures to push through towards the Shroud. The smaller sized Reaper was more agile than its larger brethren and proceeded to attack the incoming air strikes with impunity and destroyed several human and turian fighters with its energy weapon. With the combined presence of anti-aircraft fire and the destroyer, the human and turian fighters and bombers had to rethink their strategy.

The destroyer turned around and began walking towards the Shroud and the ruins surrounding it in the distance.

* * *

Wrex snarled under his breath. He'd just been informed by his ground commander that the Reaper had arrived and attacked the Horde and effectively halted its advance. The Horde was now bogged down in fighting the enemy ground forces as they had gained the advantage after the destroyer had landed.

He led the other Tomkah onto a path and took a right turn towards the vast court yard just outside the ruins near the Shroud which was active and was constantly dispersing air particles.

Wrex said, "Shepard, the Reaper is here now. Moving towards the Shroud...and us."

"Oh great." Shepard murmured sardonically from his seat.

His team had easily fitted inside the large krogan truck and had taken a few minutes of respite since surviving the city of the ancients.

Liara pointed out dejected, "We don't have a plan for this."

Vega agreed from his seat, "I hope someone has a plan B."

But Shepard hadn't. The fleet was tied up in fighting the Reapers in space, hopefully ensuring that no other landed near the Shroud. Now that would be disastrous. The only thing he could come up with was to redirect air strikes against the destroyer.

The Tomkah quickly came to a halt.

"We're here." Wrex informed and removed the harness of the driver seat and rose up to exit.

Shepard's team, Wrex, Eve and Mordin exited the Tomkah and gathered nearby. The krogan driver and the gunner remained inside the truck. The second Tomkah drove up and stopped behind Wrex's, a small group of six heavily armed krogan exited. Shepard noted that Grunt walked up to them and they greeted each other.

Garrus sighed as he glanced at the ruins, "I know we've beaten the odds before..." He turned to Shepard, "But now I'm not so sure."

In the distance they heard the harrowing electronic noises emitted from the Reaper.

Wrex thundered and turned to Shepard and Garrus, "We're not back out now this close. We're curing the genophage no matter what. Everything my people will ever be depends on it."

Shepard said, "Alright then. We need to call down air support to get rid of that Reaper, because that's all I can come up with. The fleet is busy keeping the rest of the Reapers at bay."

Wrex gestured at Eve, "Eve came up with a plan actually. It's crazy!"

From the other Tomkah, Grunt and the four other krogan walked over to the main group.

Shepard glanced at Eve, "So what is the plan?"

"We summon Kalros to the Reaper."

"The gian' sandwawm that tried ter eat us?" Zaeed asked dubious.

"Will that even work?" Shepard asked curious.

Mordin chimed in rapidly, "Strategy already formulated Shepard. The Reaper needs to be distracted from the tower while cure synthesized. Released."

Eve nodded, "Legends say she's the mother who all tresher maws are spawned from. Tuchanka is as much her home as it is ours. She'll defend it."

"If Tuchanka has a temper, Kalros is it. Nobody's ever faced her and survived the encounter."

"I know we've done some crazy stuff in the past, but this tops most if not all." Shepard said apprehensive. Getting mixed up with a Reaper and a giant tresher maw this close didn't seem like an recipe for survival.

"And going head-to-head with Sovereign wasn't?" Wrex challenged.

"For most of that he was outside the Citadel tower while we were inside it," Garrus pointed out.

Wrex gestured and asserted, "This is the only way to get to the Shroud and release the cure. There's no other choice."

"I'm still not sure how we summon Kalros." Shepard said and gauged the two krogan in front of him for an answer.

Eve explained, "The Shroud was built near this arena which is devoted to Kalros' glory." Eve gestured at the ruins on their left, "It was believed by the salarians that the mere presence of Kalros would scare intruders away."

Mordin nodded, "Evidently it appears to have worked." He turned around and walked a few meters away from the group and glanced at an entrance further down a slope. It was the laboratory facility which connected by an underground tunnel to the Shroud itself.

Eve continued in her calm demeanor, "There's a so called maw hammer, the largest in existence. Activate it and you'll summon Kalros. That should at the very least distract the Reaper."

"Just like my rite Shepard." Grunt said from behind. The young krogan of course referred to when they had summoned a tresher maw of their own to fight during his initiation with Clan Urdnot.

"We still need it destroyed. If it attacks the Shroud we're doomed." Shepard said and glanced at the giant tower in the distance. "I have no idea how much punishment that tower can take, but even one of these...small Reapers can pack a punch."

"Then we need air support." Garrus said. "If we're lucky and enough ordnance is dropped on it, the Reaper might go down."

Mordin turned and walked up to the group again, "Meanwhile I'll synthesize the cure. The laboratory is nearby."

Shepard turned to Grunt and his entourage, "And these guys are...?"

Grunt exclaimed proudly, "Members of Aralakh-company, part of my own personal squad. They're tough, think they're invincible, Reckless but effective. They fought the husks in the Hollows when the clans tried to gain entrance."

Shepard nodded, extra firepower was always good, "If they're half the soldier you are we might get out of this one alive."

Grunt chuckled guttural and reached for his Striker.

The ominous noises of the Reaper crept closer.

Shepard turned to Wrex, "Okay. Let's do this right and make sure we all get out of here alive. This will be one hell of a story to tell."

Wrex cut in, "Shepard, wait." He took a step forward his friend and said honestly, "I want you to know, that no matter what happens here today you've been a champion to the krogan people, a friend of Clan Urdnot...and a brother to me." Wrex reached out and proudly shook Shepard's hand. "And to every future krogan born, they'll know that Shepard means hero."

Shepard was once again flustered by the praise from his krogan friend and was thankful for his helmet.

Wrex slapped Shepard on his armor clad shoulder and declared, "Now let's show them why!"

Mordin interjected, "Agreed. We've to hurry. Will take Eve to the laboratory and begin synthesizing the cure."

"Will you need backup?"

Mordin shook his head, "No Shepard. Move quicker if we're alone, plus there should be containment shields protecting us."

Mordin gestured down the slope to the entrance of the laboratory on the side of ruins.

Eve gave Mordin an acknowledging nod and the two walked down.

Shepard said as the salarian and krogan walked away, "See you on the other side Mordin."

"Stay alive Shepard, will have cure ready." Mordin informed as he and Eve continued down the slope. The salarian scientist checked his weapon.

* * *

Shepard and his team augmented by the krogan vaulted over a barricade and fanned out over a court yard of barricades and broken columns, surrounded by krogan statues, ruins and an overpass above them.

Shepard radioed, "EDI, are you busy?"

The AI chimed in, _"We're currently engaged in battle but I have processes ready to assist."_

_Christ, but with Joker at the helm they should be fine, hopefully, _Shepard pondered before he said, "Connect me to the Armstrong."

_"Right away Shepard. Stand by. Logging you out."_

A few short moments later a female voice was heard, _"Spectre 0-1, this is Overlord, send traffic."_

"This is Commander Shepard, we're currently moving on foot towards the Shroud. The Reaper destroyer is inbound and possible ground forces as well, we're in need of CAS."

Shepard and the others methodically cleared the court yard and Shepard took cover behind a crumbled rock. The others set up defensive positions around the court yard.

* * *

Behind the second planet orbiting the sun, Kanin, the SSV Armstrong was positioned. The carrier's CIC saw a flurry of activity as CIC operators at their stations were busy running the air war on the planet and supporting the fleet battling in space.

The young enlisted female CIC operator informed, "Commander, our fighters took a severe pounding when that destroyer landed, we're regrouping and rearming but it will take some time."

Behind her the commander of the air wing strolled up, Captain Gertzen a burly South African in his mid forties with a crew cut and a donning flight suit.

"What's going on Chief?" Gertzen asked.

The Operations Chief pressed a button on her interface and muted her mouthpiece, "Sir. Spectre 0-1 requests air support to the Shroud but all our fighters and bombers are heading back to re-arm."

Gertzen nodded, "Keep me posted."

He turned and quickly headed over to a row of computer terminals nearby staffed with UAV operators.

"Guys, get me eyes on the Shroud."

"Yes sir." One of the operators said and steered his unarmed recon UAV towards the target and zoomed in with its powerful cameras. Despite being kilometers up on the sky they received close up imagery of the Shroud and the ruins on a monitor. Down there somewhere was the SPECTRE and his small team.

Gertzen had been briefed earlier, along with the ship's commander and the rest of his staff, about the plan for the now ongoing battle. Admiral Santini had pressed that all that mattered was releasing the cure and supporting Commander Shepard. Gertzen knew that if they failed, all the casualties they had taken in the battle would be for naught and an alliance between the humans and the turians and krogan would not happen.

On the monitor in front of him he saw the bulky mass of the destroyer moving closer, it fired its main weapon at the Horde and it's vehicles as it traversed the battlefield. It was under a kilometer to the tower and if the Reapers managed to destroy the Shroud...

Gertzen didn't even want to think that thought.

The Captain ordered, "Keep an eye on that Reaper and inform me if anything happens."

"Yes sir," the operator said.

Gertzen hastily turned back to the CIC operator communicating with Commander Shepard, "Who can respond to the CAS request?"

The Chief navigated the air-tasking order on her monitor, "Eh...Dragon 4-1, six FB-60's sir, they are prepped and ready, but they're tasked to support the Horde."

Gertzen ordered, "We need them on-site now. Re-task them and send them over to the Shroud and have another strike ready to launch. Patch me through to the Commander on my earpiece."

The Operations Chief pressed a button, "You're patched in sir."

She quickly relayed the orders to operations while Gertzen spoke to Shepard.

"Commander, this Captain Gertzen, you've a flight of six that will support you. ETA..."

"ETA 10 minutes sir," the CIC operator quickly interjected.

"10 minutes Commander."

Gertzen heard Shepard's stressed voice in his earpiece and gunfire in the background, _"Copy. __Thanks Captain. Shepard out."_

* * *

In the ruins, Shepard's team had been ambushed by an advance group of Cannibals and Marauders which had infiltrated the ruins; they had pushed through the krogan lines and closed on the Shroud.

Shepard had darted over to cover as he had been talking with the Armstrong and was reloading his weapon. The incoming fire from the creatures had quickly overwhelmed them and they had all quickly scurried to cover trying to return the fire. Vega was behind the column as well and tried to peer out of cover and fire at the Cannibals but the heavy incoming fire forced the Lieutenant back behind cover as bullets rained down on their position.

Shepard glanced around the corner of the fallen column and saw Wrex and the other krogan on the far side of the court yard near a ramp leading up to the overpass above them. It would be the perfect vantage point for an attack from above.

Shepard cried out into his mouthpiece, "Wrex, take your team up the ramp and attack the Reapers from the second floor!"

"Lucky for you I'm here to handle the Reapers Shepard!" Wrex growled enthusiastically and ordered Grunt and the other krogan soldiers from Aralakh-company to follow him.

The eight krogan darted over to a fallen column and used it for cover as the Reaper creatures laid down suppressive fire along the part of the court yard where Shepard and his allies were.

Vega leaned on the rock with his back and asked, "Commander, do you have a plan to get out of here?"

Shepard exclaimed deadpanned, "James, I'm a professional!"

"That's not a yes." Vega stated concerned.

"It's not a no either. I'm making this up as I go!"

Vega chuckled humorlessly, "That was what I was afraid off."

Vega pulled out a grenade from one of his pouches and threw it over his head, hoping it would cause some casualties on the side of the Reapers, but the grenade bounced of a wall and exploded harmlessly behind the creatures.

On top of the second floor of the overpass, Wrex and the Aralakh-company emerged with their weapons and fired down at the Reapers behind cover on the opposite side of the court yard.

Wrex cried out as he fired his shotgun, "I AM URDNOT WREX AND THIS IS MY PLANET!"

The powerful rounds from the wide assortment of infantry weapons wielded by the krogan riddled the attacking creatures and stopped their attack on Shepard's team.

The pause in the attack from the Reapers gave Shepard's team a moment to counter attack and they emerged from behind cover spread over the court yard and opened fire at the hostiles. With use of small arms fire, heavy weapons fire and biotics the Cannibals and Marauders was soon decimated.

Wrex looked down on Shepard, Garrus and Liara; his former team mates from their days in hunting Saren, and growled spiritedly, "That's why I love hanging out with you guys! Why shoot something once when you can shoot it 46 more times!"

Garrus chimed in tongue-in-cheek, "And that's the moment when the universe ran out of ammunition."

Shepard surveyed the court yard; a collapsed wall on the opposite side blocked their way forward. They had to take the overpass to reach further into the arena and the maw hammer.

Shepard looked up and chuckled, "Good job. We're coming up, the way forward is blocked!"

"Got it!" Wrex called back.

Shepard was joined by the others and they headed towards the ramp.

Mordin chimed in and informed, _"Shepard, we're in luck. The laboratory had the original genophage strain. Preparing the cure now."_

Shepard acknowledged as he led his team up the ruin, "Hurry Mordin, we've engaged Reaper creatures and the destroyer is getting closer."

_"Understood. Dispersal of cure problematic if the Reaper isn't destroyed."_

"Yeah, and we're on our way. There'll be an incoming air strike in..." Shepard glanced at his omni-tool and the chronograph, "6 minutes. Hopefully we can destroy the Reaper in a combined strike if Kalros fails."

With Shepard in the lead, his team and the krogan pressed on through the ruins and down another ramp which led into the vast devastated court yard of crumbling pillars and raised platforms with ramps leading up and down adjacent platforms. In the distance was the shroud tower, and Wrex had explained that halfway there extended a platform on the far left were the controls for the maw hammer was situated on a raised square stone on the end of the platform.

The massive structure of the maw hammer itself was located out in the desert not far away from the arena. It resembled the tall spire which had called on the creatures during Grunt's own rite. Three towering spires encased a giant keystone on a large platform, and above it was the hammer itself, a long rod connected to a mechanism which would strike the keystone when activated and summon Kalros.

_At least that's the plan,_ Shepard mused.

Entering the arena Shepard was hopeful as they were 150 meters from the controls.

The frightening noise from the Reaper crept closer and it towered above the ruins in the distance. Shepard could see it getting closer to the arena and the Shroud.

Liara gasped by the sight of the destroyer, "By the goddess, in front of us."

Vega sighed dejected, "Look at that, it's Earth all over again."

Shepard ordered, "Then we better hurry, on me people-!"

Gunfire from Reaper creatures stopped Shepard in mind-sentence as he instinctively ducked for cover when the rounds went above his head. Groups of about a dozen Cannibals and Marauders had converged on the arena and darted to cover behind columns and rocks which dotted the adjacent court yard as they fired their weapons.

"Contact, take cover!" Garrus cried out and quickly took cover.

Shepard and the others fanned out and took cover across the crumbled columns and barricades in the court yard below as the creatures continued their assault. Shepard and his allies peered out of cover and returned fire the best they could. In the distance Shepard saw two Brutes emerging as they charged the ruins behind the Cannibals and Marauders.

"They brought back-up, two Brutes incoming at our 12'o clock people!" Shepard called out.

Wrex growled from behind cover, "We need to push on Shepard, we've to reach that control!"

A gaggle of four Cannibals broke cover amid the suppressive fire from their brethren as well as from the Marauders. The group darted over to some columns nearby to try and flank Shepard and his allies. The huge Brutes pushed on despite being fired upon by Grunt and his Aralakh-members with their heavy weapons.

Shepard saw the moment of the Cannibals on their flank and barked out orders, "Grunt, I need heavy weapons on the left flank or they'll break through! Garrus, break out your Krysae! Zaeed I need you with your sniper rifle as well!"

Grunt turned to four of his squad-members and directed them two the left flank of the barricades were the large group had taken cover. Garrus and Zaeed did as they had been ordered and quickly retrieved their rifles to provide accurate marksman fire.

The rest of the shooters were directed to use their small arms, and biotics, to keep the enemies at bay and to neutralize as many as possible before anyone could push through to the hammer control, the kill zone in front of them was too dangerous to traverse.

Outside the arena the destroyer stopped and turned its attention to the Shroud and folded away the large plates to expose its beam weapon. The Reaper fired its weapon at the mid-section of the Shroud, blowing away chunks of its structure but it was still standing strong and still functioning.

Shepard saw what was happening with the Shroud and was frightened. The tower couldn't be allowed to be destroyed. Shepard was about to break cover and run through the kill zone despite the large concentration of enemies to call on Kalros when a voice was heard in his earpiece.

_"Spectre 0-1, this is Dragon 4-1. Six FB-60's, ordnance to follow; four missiles and eight bombs per bomber. We're on station and awaiting tasking"_

_Thank God!_ Shepard thought.

Shepard quickly remembered Vega's service record and that he had completed a three week air controller course and was qualified to direct attacks from virtually any combat fighter within use of the Citadel races against land targets.

Shepard ordered, "James! Talk to the pilots! They need to attack the Reaper!"

"You got it Shepard!" Vega responded from behind cover and dropped his weapon and accessed his omni-tool.

* * *

Roughly 15 kilometers from the Shroud, six delta-winged, twin engine, two-seat, Alliance fighter-bombers flew high above the wastelands. To the east of the Shroud was the battlefield, and explosions could be seen on the ground as well as in the air.

The Weapon Systems Officer in the back of the lead bomber had his head down over his displays and was busy with setting up weapons and acquiring targets. In the bombers internal weapons bay each aircraft carried four stand-off missiles with unstable dark energy in the warheads and also eight small-diameter precision guided bombs.

A distressed Vega was heard on the radio channel, _"Dragon 4-1 this is Spectre 0-1. 9-line as follows; IP Alpha, 2-7-0 degrees, 10 kilometers from target. Target elevation 1-5-0 meters, target is a Reaper. Target location west of Shroud. Friendlies 300 meters west. Egress south."_

The pilot responded, "Solid copy Spectre 0-1. Read-back; target elevation 1-5-0 meters, target is a Reaper and is located west of the Shroud. "

_"Acknowledged. You're cleared hot!"_

"Dragon 4-1, rolling in."

The weapons officer slewed the radar and the onboard targeting camera to the target. He glanced at the camera image of the Reaper on one of his displays and informed his pilot, "Weapons armed. Target acquired."

"Copy. Dragon flight, engage."

The six human fighter bombers flew in a spread out formation and the pilots opened the weapons bay to expose their payload. The weapons were dropped a few meters below the bombers so the rocket engines could fire safely and accelerated the missiles away from the bombers at a tremendous speed towards the Reaper.

"1, weapon released."

"2, weapon released."

"3..."

* * *

Vega called out as he was receiving information from the fighter bombers, "Shepard, missiles on their way, 20 seconds!"

"Understood!"

Inside the arena the heavy fighting continued, the two Brutes had pushed through the court yard below and had headed up the ramp. But a combination of weapons fire and biotics from the entrenched team behind the columns and barricades had managed to defeat the Brutes. The krogan on the left flank engaged the flanking Cannibals which were quickly killed as they lacked the support from the Marauders which commanded front line units in the court yard.

The destroyer, sensing that the creatures below was being overwhelmed by the organic forces turned from the Shroud after having fired a second devastating round into the tower moments earlier. The destroyer fired its beam weapon on the left flank of the defending team, a powerful explosion rocked the platform and burst through the ancient krogan ruins which fell down and killed a squad of four krogan, exposing it to a counter-attack from the Reaper creatures. Six Marauders below quickly darted from cover to cover to attack the exposed flank.

Shepard shouted, "Wrex, Grunt, protect the left flank!"

The two krogan quickly hurried to the left flank, now buried amongst rock, metal and rubble.

The screeching sounds of low and fast flying missiles were heard. Plumes of smoke streaked overhead as the first missiles of those two dozen fired began impacting the destroyer on its large body. The powerful missiles blew of chunks of armor plates from the destroyer, exposing its interior. The 160 meter tall machine staggered from the explosions, and it emitted wailing electronic noise at the impact of the missiles. The destroyer folded its protective plates over its energy weapon to shield it from the missiles.

Vega exclaimed enthusiastically to the pilots, "Good effect on target!"

Shepard called out as he had ducked down from the incoming fire, "James, the bombers need to clear the arena from the creatures."

* * *

The lead pilot watched the carnage unfolding through the targeting camera on one of his displays. The missiles, which arrived in several waves, struck the destroyer and kept it from re-attacking the Shroud or the friendly forces on the ground.

Vega informed the pilot, _"Dragon 4-1, we need you to clear the arena for us. One aircraft, one bomb. I need a read-back."_

"Roger, one aircraft, one bomb. Standing by for brief." The lead pilot acknowledged.

Vega continued,_ "You are cleared to attack the arena. Attack north to south only, about 300 meters west of the Shroud there's a friendly force bunkered down. Enemy ground forces is occupying the court yard between the friendly team and the Shroud. The bomb blast needs to be focused within the walled ruins of the arena to contain damage to enemy forces. Egress east."_

"Copy." The pilot said. He wasn't too thrilled to drop ordnance that close to friendly forces. Nor was he thrilled doing a bombing run that close to a Reaper.

The pilot ordered the other five bombers, which was firing their last missiles at the target, to remain in a pattern nearby as he rolled his bomber in the direction of the target area. His systems operator in the backseat designated the target with the use of the powerful radar they had, mapping the arena he could acquire a highly detailed birds-eye view of the arena. The Weapons Systems Officer slewed the camera to the target area and designated a point in the arena where he could discern the Reaper creatures through the FLIR camera.

Most of the friendly troops nearby had locator beacons which sent out their position which made it easier for the bomber crew to discern between the hostiles and the friendlies.

With a final target check, the backseater updated the targeting information and the pilot had an updated and precise point of attack showing up on his heads-up-display in front of him.

Racing towards the ground the pilot aligned the bomber with the targeting reticule on his HUD and pressed the weapon release button on his flight stick and a single bomb was dropped. The pilot pulled up as hard as he could and turned away from the target and the Reaper. He silently prayed that the bomb would hit its intended target and not the friendlies.

* * *

The bomb impacted in the middle of the arena, sending sand, rocks and debris into the air as it detonated with a loud explosion, the blast was contained within the walled ruins of the arena and it didn't spread in all directions and those creatures at the point of detonation was obliterated instantaneously. Shepard and his allies had been well outside the kill radius and as they had remained behind cover of columns, barricades and rocks they survived the blast.

Shepard quickly peered out of cover and surveyed the platform below them through his weapon scope, the dust settled and he couldn't see any hostiles. He was thankful for the noise dampening technology within his helmet, but his ears was still slightly ringing after the explosion.

_That bomb might have done the trick, _Shepard mused. He looked up and saw the destroyer in the distance; the final missiles impacted the target and it seemed as the Reaper was slowly regaining itself from the attack.

They didn't have much time and Shepard was unsure if the tower could survive a third attack. Blocks of the building fell down but the construct was still releasing the air particles to purify the planet's atmosphere so it was still operational.

For now.

Shepard called out, "Is everyone alright?" He surveyed the platform and noted to his relief movement all around the ruins they had taken cover at.

Garrus reported in his trademark deadpanned voice, "Fine here...mostly."

"I think so." Liara responded startled and picked herself up from the ground and leaned on the column.

"Miranda here. I'm fine."

Shepard heard the guttural chuckle of Grunt. He clearly enjoyed the air strike.

Soon all survivors had reported in.

Shepard ordered, "You are all staying here, I'll head for the hammer controls."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Are you nuts?!" Garrus protested as he regained his composure behind his column.

Miranda called out equally as perplexed from her side of the platform, "John!"

Vega, who had been busy calling of the strikers and ordered them to a holding pattern, shouted, "You got to be kidding me Loco?!"

Wrex wasn't as concerned and quipped, "Why do you always get to do all the fun things, Shepard?!"

But Shepard didn't respond and vaulted over his barricade and ran down the steps of the ramp to the platform below. More voices were heard in his earpiece but he mentally blocked them out.

The Reaper emitted a deep ominous noise again, but this time it didn't sound like the wailing sound it had emitted during the missile strike.

Shepard ran through the court yard with his weapon in hand and quickly jumped over the dead and dying creatures which riddled the ground. He hooked a left and found the ramp leading up to the platform which extended itself out from the arena and saw the controls to activate the hammer. He stopped and made a quick sweep of the platform and the court yard he just ran through, he didn't see any target, or any of his friends that could have foolishly broke cover to follow him. He turned to the controls again and pushed the square button down.

Shepard watched as the maw hammer in front of him in the distance rose up a bit before it fell down on the keystone of the structure, a loud strange noise was emitted and sent out a powerful vibration throughout the immediate area calling for Kalros.

"Mordin, the Hammer has been activated! How's the cure coming?"

Mordin's distressed voice was heard, _"Almost finished! Eve's vital signs dropping! Trying to compensate!"_

Out in the fringes of the arena ruins, Kalros' giant body pushed effortlessly through the rolling dunes, tons of rocks sand erupted around it. The tresher maw was drawn to the vibrations of the Hammer.

Shepard turned from the Hammer control and ran the length of the platform, but one of the Reaper's legs crashed down on the court yard which had been devastated by the bomb, its claw-like grips took hold of the ground.

_Shit! I can't go that way!_

Shepard looked up above him; he was right under the Reaper which emitted its harrowing electronic noise. It had turned its attention away from the Shroud.

_Does it sense Kalros?_

In his earpiece he heard Miranda's worried voice, _"John! What's happening?"_

"I can't talk right now! Kinda busy!"

A high pitched howling was heard throughout the dunes followed by heavy vibrations as Kalros got closer, charging the Reaper head on. The destroyer fired its energy weapon directly at the tresher maw but the giant beast pushed underground to avoid the red beam and disappeared for a few seconds before it once again erupted from the ground. Rocks and sand followed in its wake as it roared, the four tentacles surrounding it's mouth spread wide as it latched on to the base of the Reaper, right above the its energy weapon.

The Reaper frantically fired its weapon in an attempt to hit the tresher maw's belly, but the heavy beast overwhelmed the machine which stumbled under the weight of the maw and continued to fire the beam aimlessly at the arena below, damaging or destroying the age old ruins. Large blocks of the buildings fell to the ground and Shepard ran of the platform to the wide court yard and tried to run away but the beam cut of his path ahead and he had to dive for cover behind a barricade.

The giant body of the maw came crushing down on the court yard with a loud crash, sending dust, sand rocks and gravel flying through the air as its weight destroyed everything underneath. The path to the Shroud had been demolished and had dropped down. The maw's body was lifted off the ground as the Reaper continued its struggle to get rid of Kalros. The ground vibrated by the struggle and a mechanic wailing was joined by a howling whine.

Shepard darted forward through the arena towards the Shroud, despite the destruction it was the fastest route there. Shepard leaped of the ledge and fell down on the crumbled path bellow leading to the Shroud as the behemoths continued clashing near the Shroud. Shepard took ground and scurried to his feet and dashed forward to a bridge which connected to the damaged path.

The destroyer braced its legs on the ground by gripping with its claw-like extensions on the legs. It reared violently to force Kalros of its own body by slamming it into the base structure of the Shroud. Metal and rocks was ripped of the structure. The maw landed on its back and let out a high pitched cry as its mouth and tentacles let loose of the Reaper. It used the end of its giant body which was still underground and retreated back to its safe haven below the surface, dodging the relentless fire from the Reaper.

The Reaper turned around with its back to the Shroud and braced itself anticipating a new attack from the front. The ground vibrated again as Kalros re-attacked but this time it came at the machine's right side. The maw erupted from underground with a high pitched howling, it turned its body in a loop and this time struck the Reaper from above, slamming it into the ground, latching on with its mouth and tentacles. The Reaper fired its weapon into the ground by the action and Kalros forced the Reaper down its side with a loud crash and curled its vast body around it and slowly pulled it down underground. The Reaper emitted a mechanic and electronic wailing noise as it was pulled down. In a last ditch effort to struggle free from Kalros it fired its weapon into the curled body but with no effect. The ground vibrated as the maw and its prey disappeared underground in a shower of sand and rocks.

Shepard had been standing on the remains of the bridge connecting to the base structure of the shroud and Kalro's arena and had seen the entire spectacle unfold in front of him. A surge of relief shot through his body and he took a deep calming breath.

Shepard radioed the others, "I'm heading into the Shroud to meet up with Mordin. Double back to the vehicles and we'll join up as soon as we've dispersed the cure."

Miranda shot back, she was equally concerned and relieved at the same time to hear Shepard again, _"John are you alright?"_

Shepard faintly smiled as he dashed across the bridge, "Yes I'm fine Miranda. I'll see you soon."

* * *

Mordin ran down the corridor of the underground tunnel which connected to the base structure of the Shroud. He arrived at a large locked door. He activated his omni-tool and the highly advanced hacking program hacked the door interface and a few moments later the door opened with a hiss.

He pulled out his weapon and swept the immediate area, he was inside a large hall with two rows of workstations and an elevator in the far end. He looked up and as the hall lacked a roof, crumbled and burning chunks of the Shroud fell down from high above, some landed outside while some landed in the hall.

Mordin had successfully completed the final steps in creating the cure and luckily Eve had been strong enough to survive the procedure.

_They were so close!_

Confirming that there were no threats around he darted over to a workstation and holstered his weapon. Mordin began typing on the keyboard, the cure was ready and loaded in to the Shroud's dispersal machinery and he needed to prepare the final leg of the cure dispersal. The battle against the destroyer, and its subsequent attack on the tower itself, had caused severe power fluctuations in the Shroud's intricate systems and he needed to ensure that the systems were properly ready. They likely only had one shot at this before the tower overloaded. And to say nothing about the structural damage which had been caused.

Mordin noted movement by the entrance and saw Shepard emerge with his rifle, but he quickly holstered it when he saw Mordin.

Shepard ran down the stairs to the hall below and stopped at Mordin.

Shepard spoke through his voice module, "Is the cure ready?"

Mordin continued typing frantically on the keyboard and spoke rapidly, "Yes. Loaded for dispersal in two minutes. Procedure traumatic for Eve but not lethal. Glad we kept Maelon's research data, otherwise outcome could have been worse."

"Eve's okay?"

"Indeed. She turned back to the waiting trucks. Her survival fortunate, she's has...'radical' ideas for the future krogan. She is a beacon of hope for all krogan and will stabilize government if Wrex get any ideas. Good match, promising future for the krogan."

A table-size chunk of the tower fell down on the far side of the hall with a loud crash.

Shepard jolted back and instinctively sheltered his head with his arm and cried out surprised, "Damn!"

Mordin gave the crash a cursory glance before he turned his attention to the computer, "Control room on the top of the tower." Mordin gestured at the lift nearby, "Must take elevator up."

Shepard lowered his arm and looked up at the tower. He then glanced at Mordin and asked incredulous, "Wait, you are going up there?"

Mordin typed the last line of code and turned to Shepard and explained, "Yes. Almost finished, but manual access required. Have to counteract STG sabotage. Ensure cure disperse properly."

Shepard began protesting, "But this whole thing is collapsing, there's got to be another way!"

Mordin turned around gazed upon the tall tower as debris was raining down and explosions could be seen were the Reaper had fired its weapon, "Exactly why I need to hurry Shepard. Remote bypass impossible. STG countermeasures in place. No time to adjust cure for temperature variance."

Mordin looked down on the floor and shook his head glum.

_Time is of the essence, if cure is not dispersed soon the tower will be destroyed and there will be no alliance between turians and krogan. No alliance against the Reapers. All life as we know will be annihilated. _

Mordin turned to Shepard and declared vigorously, "No. No other option. Not coming back. Suggest you evac structure. Explosions likely to be very problematic."

Mordin turned and hurried to the elevator at the far end of the hall.

Shepard darted after and protested, "Mordin! No!"

Mordin stopped right outside the elevator and turned to Shepard. The salarian implored, "Shepard. Please. Need to do this. My project. My work. My responsibility."

_My redemption. No regret. Lived a good life despite ambiguity regarding the modification project. A good way to go out, good use of my last years; mission against Collectors, aiding the war effort, creating alliances. Saving a proud race. Saving the galaxy. _

Mordin retrieved his SMG from his harness and handed it to Shepard, "Won't need this anymore. Good gun. Served me well this battle."

Shepard glanced at it before he quickly holstered it to his right leg harness.

Mordin took a deep breath, "Would have enjoyed running tests on sea shells."

Shepard shook his head glum, but Mordin was unable to properly see his facial expression. Despite the brutality of war, Shepard likely had a hard time watching another friend walk to his death.

Mordin said, "Regret that I was unable to assist Ms. Lawson further. A noble task, giving prospect for life. Would have liked to see outcome."

Shepard looked up.

The salarian continued with a faint smile as he wore no helmet, "Left OSD with thoughts on her predicament. Also a datapad for you with recordings and writings from me. Some of my older works, merely for entertainment purpose, but entertainment sometimes useful. Both can be found in infirmary. OSD password secured, but Ms. Lawson is a very bright woman, she'll figure it out."

"I'm sorry Mordin. You've been a great friend." He extended his hand.

Mordin took a few steps forward and shook it, "I'm not. Had to be me. Someone else might have gotten it wrong" He took a swift breath, "It's been an honor knowing you..." Mordin smiled and said, "John."

"The honor's been all mine."

"Good luck, but with your flare for destruction Reapers should not be a problem."

Mordin gave Shepard one final nodd and swiftly turned around and entered the elevator. He hit the interface and turned to Shepard as the two glass-encased doors closed. The elevator began its ascension and Shepard disappeared below him. As the elevator cleared the base structure Mordin could clearly see the rolling dunes and the wasteland of Tuchanka.

The sun was setting and in the distance he could see the bright flashes of explosions as the Horde fought the Reaper ground forces. In the skies above he could see human and turian fighters unleashing their ordnance on the enemy. Mordin was proud; the alliance between the races was in the making, human, turian and krogan fought next to each other against the Reapers.

The elevator traversed the length of the Shroud and arrived at the top. The doors slid open and Mordin rushed out.

A computer voice called out, _"Warning temperature malfunction detected."_

Fires was raging inside and at the far end of the room the computer system flashed warning messages from the tower's systems failing due to the structural damage.

The computer voice repeated its warning message.

An explosion erupted from a server farm on Mordin's rightside and he shielded his face with his arm from the explosion and debris flying. Mordin arrived at the console at the far end near a panel of winows overlooking the wastelands. Mordin began typing on the keyboard to counteract the STG sabotage. He began singing a patter song to keep his mind focused on the task at hand and not at the raging fires, warning messages and explosions.

"Hmm, hmm, hmmm, I've studied species turian, asari and batarian..."

He gave the monitor quick glances as he typed feverishly the line of codes needed to bypass the sabotage so the dispersal could be properly initiated.

Unsurprisingly to Mordin he had successfully adjusted the temperature variance.

The Shroud's computer voice announced, _"Temperature now within acceptable range. Dispersal commencing." _

At the last words of the VI, Mordin looked up and smiled victoriously. He had succeeded. _They_ had succeeded. The genophage cure erupted from the tower, a cloud of white substance spread in the atmosphere, and the winds of Tuchanka would take care of the rest. Every krogan on the planet would be cured.

Mordin took a deep breath and savored the moment. He had redeemed himself. The proud krogan race was saved, a new era and a chance at defeating the Reapers was at hand. He remained in the middle of the room, glancing out at the wastelands outside the windows.

"My xenoscience studies range from urban to agrarian, I am the very model of-"

* * *

The air was blanketed by the white-colored cloud of the cure and an explosion on the top of the tower erupted. Shepard was standing outside the Shroud looking up at the tall tower. The white substance in the air was raining down, they resembled snowflakes. Shepard reached out and several 'flakes' landed in the palm of his glowed hand and was absorbed by the fabric.

Behind him, the two Tomkah's they had left on the opposite side of Kalros' arena drove up and stopped nearby.

Miranda was the first one out of the hatch. She dashed forward to Shepard and hastily embraced him

She cursed through her voice module relieved at seeing him, "Damn you John! Don't ever do that again!"

Behind his face plate Shepard smiled at her possessiveness. He assured her, "I'm alright."

Miranda let go of him and looked around them and then at Shepard, "Where's Mordin?"

Shepard shook his head and looked up at the tower and said glum, "He had to manually release the cure from the control room."

Miranda followed his gaze and looked up the Shroud.

She said, "I'm sorry."

Behind them, Wrex and Eve had exited the Tomkah and were also looking at the spectacle unfolding in the sky, the krogan race was saved.

* * *

The return drive to the Hollows had been done mostly in silence. The Shroud had collapsed some time earlier, but the genophage cure was in the atmosphere and was spread by the wind across Tuchanka. Despite the damage to the tower, they had succeeded.

Shepard had radioed Joker for an update on the space battle, and Joker had explained that with the last capital ship destroyed the allied fleet was now battling the last remnants of the destroyers, and no other Reapers had come through the relay. On the ground the Horde pushed forward assisted by the air support provided by the humans and the turians.

Wrex led Eve and Shepard into the Hollows. The rest of Shepard's team headed towards the waiting shuttle outside.

Wrex reflected, "It was here, long ago were my father betrayed me. His followers attacked us. He tried to kill his own son." Wrex pointed at the end of the platform, near the hand rail at the edge, "So I had to kill him...right over there."

Shepard walked past Wrex and glanced at the platform. He remembered the story Wrex and told him three years earlier. How Wrex had killed his father with a blade.

Wrex declared, "That was what the genophage had reduced us to as we saw no other way. We were animals. But you changed that today, Shepard."

Shepard turned to Wrex, "I wasn't the only one."

Wrex could see, and appreciate, the support from the other races which had secured the release of the genophage this day, "No, but it was your influence Shepard."

Eve promised, "Now we will fight for our children, not against them." She said sad, "It's just a pity Mordin had to die."

Shepard nodded, "Yes, he was a good friend, but it was his choice, He knew what he did. This was what he wanted, curing the genophage."

"We'll name one of the kids after him...probably a girl," Wrex chuckled, "Making babies again will be fun and I'll do my part in getting our numbers back up."

Shepard grinned behind his face plate.

Eve ignored Wrex's comment and walked up to Shepard and said appreciatively, "But we can thank you Commander, and your companions. And all those who fought with us today."

"What of the fighting still raging?" Shepard asked.

"In their invasion of Tuchanka this can still be a blessing Shepard," Wrex said, "It can further solidify Clan Urdnot's standing, but also that the war is now our problem as well. The Reapers came here and they will pay for it. We will rally the other clan's around us. We're off to save the turians now, since apparently they forgot how to hold a gun. The turians, and the humans, will have the support of the krogan Shepard."

Shepard nodded; things were finally going in the right direction. "Thank you Wrex. I knew I could trust you."

"You really came through for us. I'm proud to call you my friend." Wrex asserted, "And when you are ready to kick the Reapers off Earth, you let me know. The krogan are back in business."

Eve shook Shepard's hand, "It's been an honor meeting you Commander. It's gratifying to know there's a friend to the krogan out there. And know that Urdnot Bakara calls you her friend."

"Of course...Bakara. It's been my pleasure. So what will you do now?"

"I will rally the clans in the Kelphic Valley and spread the hope that has been given to us. We're free now, Commander. I will speak to them and make sure this gift is not squandered, there's a lot of work to be done. Thank you for all you've done for us Commander."

"Of course." Shepard turned and glanced at Grunt standing near the burial shrine, "I'll go and have some words with Grunt before we leave."

Bakara nodded.

Shepard said, "Good luck to both of you in reshaping the krogan."

"This has been the defining moment in krogan history. The battle of Tuchanka will be remembered by the krogan and battle songs will be sung about you Shepard."

Shepard said modestly, "No need for that part."

Wrex chuckled as Shepard took his leave and walked over to Grunt.

Wrex whispered, "I told you we could trust him."

"Indeed."

* * *

Shepard stepped up next to Grunt and patted him on his shoulder, "What's up Grunt?"

Grunt turned to Shepard and said in glee, "That was a good fight Shepard. And there's more to come. Aralakh-company will be kept busy against the Reapers. I can't wait!"

"Good to hear. Wrex mentioned a while ago that you were leading your own men. Going from tank-born to a member of Urdnot and your own command is quite a feat. How did that happen?"

"It wasn't easy. Being tank-born didn't come with any favors, I had to prove myself fit for command. When Wrex put together the company he needed someone to represent the future of the krogan, and he picked me. With completing the Rite of Passage I was now an equal. But the company respects me; it took a few scars to earn my place with them."

"I gather you had to learn what it was to be an Urdnot after leaving the Normandy."

Grunt nodded, "Yeah, learned the hard way with blood and pain. I made mistakes but I excelled."

"How was Aralakh-company formed?"

"It means eye of wrath. The name for our fierce sun. Wrex hand-picked the best from different clans to show what a united krogan could do. We're the strongest. One of our first missions was against a colony attacked by batarian pirates. We crushed them."

"Doesn't surprise me. It was good seeing you again Grunt. Keep doing what you do best."

Grunt chuckled guttural at his battle master's praise.

* * *

After the last Reaper destroyers had been defeated, the allied fleet regrouped near Tuchanka, poised to attack if more Reapers poured through the relay, but none come. Sensing it was clear, Shepard and his team returned to the Normandy, they were exhausted after a day of hard fighting. But the battle raged on against the creatures on Tuchana and the two allied carrier still provided support for the krogan advance to rid Tuchanka of the Reapers at the battlefield.

The Normandy had docked with a turian dreadnought, and Shepard and Miranda was outside the airlock in the CIC, still in their combat armor as they had just recently arrived with the Kodiak. They were to see the Primarch off as the mission was a success and Victus was to return to his forces to lead them against the Reapers.

Victus arrived, escorted by Garrus, and the two turians was walking down the corridor outside the cockpit. The Primarch was carrying a duffel bag in his hand.

Arriving near the airlock Victus said appreciatively, "Commander. I thank you for your hospitality and for what you've done. Urdnot Wrex sent me a message earlier and has pledged his support. As soon as the transport convoy arrives they will start ferrying the Horde to Tuchanka. And Commander, you kept your part of the bargain and I'll keep mine, you will have the support of the turians. The turian hierarchy will be there for Earth."

The two men shook hands.

"I appreciate that Primarch," Shepard said sincerely. "I'm glad we can help each other, it's the only way we will defeat the Reapers."

Victus nodded, "That much is certain Commander. The victory here today, both human and turian fleets working together, gives me hope that we can defeat the Reapers. A lot of lives were lost here, but we gained a huge victory against the machines. I will have several dry-dock ships sent to the Crucible-project and assist with its assembly, Garrus here will coordinate."

Garrus nodded, "Yes sir."

"Thank you Primarch," Shepard said.

Victus turned to Miranda and they shook hands, "It's been an interesting experience meeting someone who worked with Cerberus once, Ms. Lawson. Not what I expected."

Miranda faintly smiled, "Of course Primarch I can understand that."

"May the spirits watch over us all," Victus said and walked over to the airlock and left the Normandy.

Garrus chimed in and turned to the two humans, "I'll start managing turian support right away." He looked at Shepard, "You must be exhausted."

Shepard nodded and let out a tired sigh, "You can say that again. I've to report to Admiral Hackett. Maybe after that I can take a shower and sleep some."

"Yeah. You will need a clear head for what will come, no room for mistakes." Garrus said glum, "And Mordin dying... just wish we had all come home."

"I know. But he wanted that...his redemption."

Garrus assured them, "Go get some shut-eye - both of you - and I'll make sure Joker don't launch any suicide missions."

Miranda gave Shepard a reassuring smile and looped her arm with his and said softly, "Come." She didn't much care if people saw them anymore, everyone knew and she suspected Shepard needed some support, she could clearly see his tired state.

Shepard nodded, "Yes."

From the cockpit Joker called out, "What is the next stop Commander?"

Sheard turned, "I don't know. I'll talk to Hackett. No Reapers around?"

Joker turned his chair around, "No, everything is in the clear. The carriers are still launching missions against the Reaper ground forces though."

Shepard nodded, "Understood."

Joker boasted, "I got two capital ships Commander!"

EDI quickly chimed in, _"Not quite Joker. These victories were shared with several other ships."_

Joker snorted, "Well our rounds delivered the killing blow!"

_"Not according to my combat telemetry."_

Shepard chuckled tiredly, "It's a good thing we have her checking your ego."

"Whatever." Joker said annoyed at EDI.

"But you did good Joker. Keep it up."

Joker nodded pleased and turned his chair around to his controls, "Yes sir."

The three continued down the corridor in silence and into the CIC, the atmosphere was clearly spirited as the CIC operators talked about the battle the allied fleet had just won.

Arriving near Traynor's workstation, Shepard stopped and said to Miranda, "I'll just report in to Hackett and I'll see you upstairs."

Garrus brushed past them and headed for the elevator.

Miranda nodded, "Of course John."

From behind Shepard Traynor called out, "Sir? I have found something suspicious, do you have a minute?"

Shepard turned and glanced at Traynor exhausted, "What is it Specialist?"

Traynor asked concerned, "Are you alright sir? It was fairly intense up here, I can't imagine how it was on the ground."

Shepard nodded tiredly, "Just exhausted. I just need to sleep some. What have you found?"

"I've found a distress signal originating from Grissom Academy while scanning Alliance channels. They seem to be in trouble. The Reaper invasion will hit the Petra Nebula soon."

"Go on." _Christ, Elysium is nearby. Haven't been on that planet in…ten years._

At the elevator Garrus had turned and was listening in curiously.

Traynor explained, "But it seems turians responded to the distress signal, but the curious thing is what inbedded within the turian signal. EDI performed an analysis and it's fake. She informed me about an incident last year with a Collector ship...Cerberus had altered a turian distress signal and lured you there."

Miranda sighed unamused, "Ah yes, I remember that."

"Yes...and EDI believes that Cerberus faked the signal to cover what they're doing there."

Garrus chimed in and asked, "Can't believe they're still after that kid you sent there Shepard. Was he that valuable?"

Shepard shrugged, "I've no idea." He called out for the AI, "EDI, tell Joker to get us to Grissom Academy as soon as possible."

_"Right away Commander."_

Shepard turned to Traynor and praised her, "Good work Specialist."

Traynor smiled, "Thank you Commander."

* * *

In the QEC-room, Shepard had just connected to Admiral Hackett and the connection was being processed and finished.

_"Commander that was one hell of a thing you just pulled off. Curing the genophage. I never thought I would see the day. And the victory against the Reaper invasion force? We've won a few skirmishes here and there but this shows what we can do if we work together against the Reapers. Although I advice against bravado at this point."_

Shepard nodded, "And Wrex has pledged his forces to help the turians. And the Primarch is also onboard now."

Hackett nodded, _"This is indeed great news Commander. But the salarians aren't with us. Too bad, they'll regret this. Let's hope we won't need them. "_

Shepard snarled, "Fucking isolationists. Sitting on the sidelines while humans and turians are dying trying to fight the Reapers."

_"The Dalatrass called me earlier."_

Shepad was surprised, "She did?"

Hackett nodded, _"Yeah, yesterday. She wanted me to order you to cease any efforts to deploy the cure."_

"And what did you say?" Shepard asked curious.

_"That I defer to your judgment. And that it was the only way to secure an alliance with the krogan and the turians. She wasn't too happy about that though."_

Shepard snorted and shook his head but regained his composure quickly, "Sir, I recommend to have the Seventh in system for a while so the convoy ships can be protected _if_ the Reapers return."

Hackett nodded, _"Yeah, I agree. Your AI has done a great job in organizing the ships to ferry the krogan to Palaven. I'll talk to Admiral Santini when I'm done talking to you."_

"Of course sir. Giver her my regards, the fleets did an admirable job. The Normandy will be heading to Grissom Academy now. My comm specialist found a discrepancy in a turian signal and we believe Cerberus is up to something."

_"Curious to what they would want with Grissom, but we do have a few projects going on which they support._ _Report back to me after your findings. Hackett out."_

"Yes sir."

* * *

**_Quotes; Jurassic Park, Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi, Raiders of the Lost Ark_**

**_Two of Vega's lines are from the Citadel DLC (+ Shepard's response of course)._**

**_One of Wrex's lines is from the Citadel DLC._**

**_One of Garrus' lines is from the Citadel DLC._**

**_One of Mordin's lines is from the Citadel DLC._**

**_Callsign from COD: Modern Warfare 2_**

**_FB = Fighter Bomber_**

**_9-line = standardized 9 lines of information relayed to pilots. _**

**_IP = Initial Point; reference point from where to begin the attack._**

**_The FB-60's I somewhat based on the proposed FB-22 Strike Raptor (which got cancelled, it was supposed to be a bomber version of the F-22) and the proposed F/A-XX (or Next Generation Air Dominance). Sleek futuristic fighters. The concept pictures look cool._**

**_Edited 2013-04-16: Changed Vega's talk on to the fighter bombers to reflect an actual "9-line brief" for Close Air Support._**


	35. Rumination

Miranda had been awake for a while and had propped her arm on the pillow and leaned her head against her hand. She was watching as John was sound asleep next to her, listening to his light snoring which she enjoyed doing. Any other morning she would have woke him up with a light kiss but he had been exhausted the evening before and after showering he had gone to bed and fell asleep in an instant so she let him sleep. She even fought of her urges to caress his body or snuggle up close to him as that would undoubtedly wake him up as well. He was a light sleeper.

_God, I've become so touchy-feely. _

She'd been frightened for his well-being when they fought in the arena and John was out of reach somewhere in the court yard trying not to be crushed or evaporated by the destroyer's beam weapon. It was one of the dark sides of emotional entanglement that she tried to protect herself from. She had been reluctant when the perspective of a relationship with John became apparent, but the temptation was very hard to resist. When she finally experienced thrill of emotion that had been absent, which she had longed for, she folded and took a chance despite the nature of their mission.

But she was still cautious, and ever since she wondered if she would ever pay the price for what she had gained.

Miranda had decided to get close to a marine, when they were on the brink of a galactic war. And perhaps ironically that was what convinced her to take a chance. She was seeking comfort, but things could go bad, very fast...

After a brief and heated romance she would have been forever scarred by its tragic end. Romantic love had captured human imagination since the beginning of time, because of the unique power it held to build and also destroy.

Miranda was afraid that despite the closeness that she was experiencing, that she instead of being alone and miserable would soon end up distraught by the death of her lover, or be absolutely devastated mourning her love. She normally scoffed at the very notion, but deep down she was also terrified that she would also lose all faith in love (the little she had).

She had not been so terrified since Bahak and those two days were among the worst of her entire life. It was at that point she had realized how much she cared for him, how much she needed John's presence in her life. She'd been on the verge of launching a rescue mission with Garrus, Legion and Mordin but then out of nowhere Joker received a radio transmission from John and they had picked him up from the asteroid before quickly leaving the system. After his return she had let out her frustrations at him, scolding him for going in alone. He shouldn't have done that, regardless what a bloody Alliance Admiral had ordered him to.

But it turned out Bahak was only an overture and it did get worse. As the two of them had gotten closer and closer, the turmoil of ever losing him was becoming more and more daunting. Witnessing him being so perilously close to death in the arena made her experience what she knew in theory could happen. She hid her inner turmoil well, but when she had seen Shepard alive, she was so overwhelmed by relief and happiness that she forgot everything and run to embrace him like some needy girl. She didn't have much problem with showing affection when they were alone anymore, but she scolded herself for not waiting.

The power of those feelings was why she avoided them, but now she was too deep to go back, and even if she wanted to all she could do was push down the depressing thoughts, take advantage of the opportunity and hope for the best. A depressing thought, but the only choice she had.

Shepard began stirring underneath the bed sheet and. Miranda gave him a wide and heartfelt smile as his eyes slowly opened.

Shepard stretched languidly and smiled at the sight of Miranda, "Morning."

"Hey you." Miranda leaned in and planted a soft kiss on his lips which he reciprocated.

"How long have you been awake?"

"Half an hour. Give or take."

"And watching me sleep all time?"

Miranda smiled, "Yes."

Shepard chuckled.

_Finally he's awake._

She wrapped an arm around his torso and snuggled close.

"How are you today?" She asked softly and planted a kiss on his torso before resting her head on his shoulder.

Shepard snaked his arm under her body underneath the bed sheet and drew circles on her thigh.

"Not as tired anymore. And thankfully we completed the mission and have ourselves some allies committed to the war. One big hurdle we can check off the very long list of things to accomplish."

"Yes." She paused and then chided, "And don't you frighten me like that again."

"It was far simpler going in there alone then dragging anyone with me." Shepard explained.

"Doesn't matter, I don't like when you do these crazy stunts."

"I understand Miri, but we had to call for Kalros otherwise the Shroud could very well have been destroyed."

Miranda sighed and clenched her teeth, "I know, I just…it was heart wrenching not knowing what was happening to you." She paused and contemplated, "I'm sorry about Mordin."

"Yeah. He did that willingly, without hesitation. I think he's...free now. Or rather that going up that tower was the thing he needed to do so he could let go of the things he did during the modification project."

"Very likely I guess."

"He left an OSD with some thoughts on your infertility."

Miranda rose up and propped up her arm and rested her hand on it so she could see into Shepard's eyes, "He did?"

Shepard nodded, "Yes. It's in the infirmary. Password secured. He didn't reveal the password – we were kinda pressed on time in the Shroud - but he said you are a bright woman and would figure it out."

Shepard reached out and tucked away a few strains of her behind her ear. Miranda smiled by his action.

"I see."

"He also said he was sorry he couldn't help you further and that he…" Shepard trailed of a bit and smiled, "Would have wanted to see the outcome."

Miranda was quiet and watched Shepard and contemplated her infertility. Mordin had done some work on her condition; she already had some files he forwarded days ago. And the salarian professor had expressed a glimmer of hope in the past and more so now it seemed if he _'would have wanted to see the outcome'._ Mordin certainly thought something could be done about it. If not there were…alternatives if her infertility was incurable, but those alternatives were nothing she was in favor of. She didn't want a child born in a test tube like herself was, engineered by an egomaniac.

She suddenly felt Shepard's soft lips on hers and he planted several kisses which she reciprocated.

Miranda smiled, "John?"

"You seemed deep in thought and I just wanted to return you to reality." Shepard said softly and lied down again.

"I was just thinking."

Shepard caressed her bare shoulder and arms, "About?"

Miranda flashed a weak smile, "Mordin always seemed…hopeful about my infertility. Maybe he and I could have done something about it."

Shepard slid his arms around her waist and drew her closer in his embrace, "I'm sorry."

"Yes well, my infertility pales in regard to the war and Mordin's death. He could have done some great things for the war effort if he was alive."

"He said some time ago that if you wanted he would have stayed onboard and helped you. It's nothing wrong in doing something beneficial for yourself despite the war. "

"Maybe."

Shepard said cautiously, "There are other options you know. Artificial-"

Miranda frowned and chided, "No! I don't want to bring a child into this world through a test tube like my father did to Oriana and me. A child of mine should not bare such a mark on his or hers life!"

Shepard couldn't help but to lament over Miranda's reaction. It became apparent that she not only hated the fact that her father had a hand in creating her, but also in the manner how she was created. This was just another disguise of her self-loathing, born out of the treatment she got from her father. As a grown woman, who did run from her oppressor, she in many ways was still the girl that always did fall short and didn't deserve anything. It was like she thought that unless a child was conceived from the womb of a biological mother it was something wrong.

Shepard trailed his fingertips across the small of her back and said, "Why do you do this to yourself? Look. It's nothing wrong in creating a child like your father did. It's not that uncommon for couples who can't conceive children naturally to go that route, and there's no reason to bastardize them like that."

Miranda was flustered, "No. I just-"

Shepard continued softly, "You look at it in such negative light because how he treated you. I mean, if he had been the freaking father of year you would have a completely different view of it. " He leaned up and planted a kiss on her lips. "I understand that it's preferable to conceive naturally, and I would never want a child of mine to have identity problems because of how it came to life, believing it's not normal or natural. But what does those words actually mean? Everybody seems to throw around the word natural like it has some kind of inherent value that we just have to accept even against facts."

Miranda lied down next to Shepard and caressed his abdomen, listening to his reasoning.

_God, he's so good at this. He has such a…silver tongue. He can be so persuasive at times it's uncanny._

Shepard gently lifted her face and brought her closer with his hand and said, "The reason we live the way we do now, so far removed from the unimaginable misery of the past, is because we have advanced as a species. You can mix a cocktail of DNA from two people and their child will be theirs and they don't need to adopt."

Miranda chuckled lightly, "That's not exactly how it's done though."

"Is there really any profound difference between you and a person born with the exact same genetic make-up without any interference?"

"I guess not."

"I think it's unfair that your father in his absence always finds new ways to screw with your life and remind you of your past and what he deprived you of. You don't need to invent his crimes. What he actually did was enough to affect your life and for you to curse him, so by basing such an important decision of your life on events from your past you are letting him control you in another aspect of your life. You give him too much influence in your life which you don't need, and if you want to go through with having a child then make sure it's what _you_ want. Don't take away your chance because you want to defy him."

Shepard said softly, "Miri there's nothing wrong with how you were born, you are not an abomination. And if you are afraid that some might be thinking so about you, believe me you are not. At least trust me that I don't think so about you. You are not a tool to be used and tossed aside, and you are the most important woman in my life. It doesn't make any difference to me how exactly you were created. We will do our best to give you back what your father took, but the alternatives are not as bad as you may sometimes think."

Miranda sighed and conceded, "What you say makes a lot of sense. I recognize that…my past is still influencing me. And it shouldn't. If there's one man whose presence should influence me it's yours and not that bastard."

Miranda planted soft kisses on his lips, their tongues grazing each other, she sighed contently at his words of adoration. She leaned away ever so slightly and grinned, "You would have been a great couple's councilor you know?"

Shepard chuckled and joked, "Well, it can be a career path after the war."

"You have that uncanny eloquent ability to be very convincing."

Shepard grinned mischievously, "I was planning to convince you into some sex eventually."

Miranda giggled and bite down on her lower lip, "That won't need a lot of convincing John."

Shepard teased, "Oh, you don't say? My wanton nympho."

Miranda feigned annoyance and grabbed a pillow and flung it in Shepard's face, "Oh, you bastard!"

Shepard chuckled and threw away the pillow across the room and rolled her over on her back, propping his arms on her sides and hovered above.

Miranda warned with mirth in her eyes trying to suppress a giggle with a snort, "You better behave."

Shepard smirked, "What? I thought I wasn't supposed to be a good boy. Wasn't the deal that I was supposed to be naughty?"

Miranda drawled in a teasing manner, "That's a fine line to walk, and such insolence will be punished."

"I'm looking forward to it." Shepard said and leaned down and captured Miranda's lips in a deep kiss.

Miranda moaned contently and wrapper her arms around his neck, relishing in the moment.

"I can think of a use for your tongue later on," Miranda said and flashed a smirk and a wink after they parted.

Shepard chuckled, "Gladly Ms. Lawson." He planted a final soft kiss on her lips which she reciprocated with a smile. "How about some breakfast, Miri? I'm starving."

* * *

Down in the mess hall, Garrus, Joker and Liara sat at the 'officers table' chatting and joking over breakfast. Relishing over the fact that they still had a long transit before they arrived in the Petra Nebula. Enough time to catch a breather before a new mission.

Joker quipped, "Okay, so two turian snipers are in the trenches. One of them asks, _'have you ever been in love?'_ The other one replies; _'love? Love is making a shot to the knees of a target 4 kilometers away with an M-92 Mantis sniper rifle with a VI-assisted scope'._"

Garrus chuckled lightly and poked his food on the plate with his fork.

Liara frowned and looked up from her food, "That wasn't even funny. I don't see the joke in that."

Joker gestured at Garrus sitting opposite of him, "Well he does. It shows that the only thing turians love are their guns."

"That's stereotyping if there ever was." Liara said displeased.

Garrus chimed in slyly, "Alright, my turn. What's the first order an Alliance commander gives at the start of combat?"

Joker thought for a few seconds and was at a loss. He shrugged, "Uh...I give up."

Garrus chuckled, "Correct."

Joker chuckled tauntingly, "Alright big guy. What do you call it when a turian is killed by a horrible spiky monster?"

"Friendly fire. Come on, that one goes back to Shanxi." Garrus exclaimed knowingly.

"Hey, you gotta respect the classics."

From around the corner Shepard and Miranda walked by together, they had arrived on crew deck by elevator.

Shepard glanced at the others, "Morning guys."

Miranda gave the trio a friendly nod.

The others greeted Shepard and Miranda as they walked to the kitchen.

Garrus chuckled and whispered to Liara and Joker in front of him, "I don't think I've seen them eat breakfast together since...I don't know really. Or even eat breakfast when supposed to!"

"Well, I know that Shepard would rather eat-" Joker whispered with a mischievous smirk before Liara interrupted.

"Joker! We're trying to eat food here," the asari hissed.

"What? I didn't say anything." Joker said in feigned innocence.

Garrus glanced over his shoulder at the kitchen and saw the couple making breakfast. Apparently Shepard joked as Miranda swatted Shepard's shoulder while laughing. Garrus turned back to his two friends.

"Well, they're kinda cute in that strange human way." Garrus shrugged and continued deadpanned, getting the conversation back on track, "How many humans does it take to activate a dormant mass relay?"

"602. 600 to vote on it, one to ask the asari for technical support and one to request a seat on the Council afterward," Joker explained knowingly.

Liara sipped on some water and looked bewildered at Joker next to her, "What have the asari done to deserve being mentioned in such a dumb joke?"

"Well, the humans came running to the asari when we were about to unleash hell on them," Garrus snickered. "I mean, it wasn't like the turian Councilor at the time urged the Hierarchy to end the police action against the newcomers."

"That's distasteful." Liara protested.

Joker shrugged, "Well, joking and taunting isn't always about being nice but rather to vent the ugliness." The pilot turned to Garrus with a wide grin, "How do you know a turian is out of ammo?"

"He switches to the stick up his ass as a backup weapon." Garrus' mandibles twitched into a turian smirk, "Why does the Alliance hire pilots with brittle bone disease?"

Joker looked at Garrus shocked and exclaimed in glee, "No way! You're shitting me! The turian military has one about me?"

"Oh, absolutely, I heard it from a private back on Palaven."

Joker took the bait, "Okay, why does the Alliance hire pilots with brittle bone disease?"

Garrus said smugly, "So their marines can beat someone in hand to hand drills."

Joker laughed, "Damn, you got to tell James that one."

"I might do that."

"You liked that one?" Liara asked perplexed. "They were making fun of your condition."

Joker turned to Liara, "See my previous statement Liara, 'vent out ugliness'." Joker turned to Garrus, "Hey, what's the hardest about treating a turian who took a rocket to the side of his face?"

Garrus chuckled, "Figuring out which side took the rocket."

Liara giggled.

"Ha! That one she liked!" Joker exclaimed and poked her on the shoulder.

Liara cleared her throat, "Yes well making fun of Garrus is...fun."

Shepard chimed in as he and Miranda sat down with their trays of assorted food and beverages, "Having fun guys?"

"Just shooting the breeze Commander, "Joker said and ate some food.

"How was the battle up here Joker?" Shepard asked and took a bite of his sandwich.

"Intense, Reapers all over the place pushing through our lines relentlessly. But we gave them a fight that's for sure. I heard you bumped into our little tank baby. How is Grunt?"

Shepard nodded, "He seems to be enjoying killing as usual."

Joker deadpanned, "Well, he learned from the best Commander. Every time he blows someone up and does that little chuckle, he'll think of you."

"Shep's one hell of a teacher," Garrus chimed in with a grin. He deadpanned, "Just one word, Shepard: 'Grunt'. There'll be a lot more dead Reapers now."

"And you encountered rachni down there?" Joker asked.

"Very unexpected I have to say." Miranda interjected

"Definitely." Joker asked Shepard cautiously, "Didn't you...take care of that on Noveria way back?"

"Apparently not. The Reapers are up to no good as usual,"

"Yeah, but now the krogan and turians teamed up. Never thought that would happen. I mean, even the Reapers got to be a little cautious about this revelation considering we kicked their asses out of Aralakh-system."

Garrus boasted confidently, "I'd wager the Reapers have to be more than a little cautious. We're on a roll now Shepard."

"Let's reel in our bravado guys. We won one battle and there's a long way to go." Shepard cautioned.

"Way to shoot us down." Garrus quipped.

"But you got to love the turians. I mean after they beat you down to a pulp and neuter you they strap a big old bomb to your planet." Joker snickered, "Just in case you get uppity again someday."

"I'm just glad we got away from our little incursion to Tuchanka," Shepard pointed out.

Joker looked down glum on his plate and poked the food slowly with his fork, "I'm sorry about Mordin."

Shepard nodded, "He was a good man."

He felt a slender hand on his lap and Miranda squeezed it reassuringly. He turned and noted a friendly smile from her. He gave her an appreciative nod and turned to his food.

Joker looked up and continued, "Yeah. But he was always running all those tests. I mean, some of them couldn't have been safe! One time he woke me up in the middle of the night wanting to find out how many livers a human have."

Miranda turned to Joker and asked slyly, "And how many livers do a human have, Joker?"

"One. Even I knew that."

Miranda grinned, "Good Lieutenant, who knows what would have happened if you gave him another answer."

"Yeah, all crazy stuff could have transpired in whatever he was doing." Joker brought up his arm and showed his elbow and deadpanned as he glanced at it, "And this bump on my elbow? He said it was a mild bone-deformation, but I'm pretty sure he stuck a probe in there once."

Shepard chuckled, "Lucky it was just your elbow and nothing else."

Joker snorted, "Yeah, real funny Commander."

"Yes, funny. Tell me more about probing Joker," Shepard snickered.

Garrus interjected, "I liked him, but I always thought he was crazy." Garrus paused and said glum, "And then he gives up his own life..."

"To save the krogan of all species. Doesn't make him sound any saner, does it Garrus? Joker said and took a bite of food from his fork.

Garrus chuckled, "I guess not. But he was one of us."

Joker quipped, "He'll have a hell of a tombstone; _'Cured the Genophage!'_ with a little asterisk, and then, at the bottom, it'll say, _'which he also created_'."

Shepard smiled and chuckled warmheartedly at talking about Mordin, "One time he...gave me sex advice."

Joker choked on his food which almost sprayed out. He resorted to gulp down a glass of water to save himself.

Garrus turned to Shepard next to him and gave his friend an incredulous look, "You can't be serious."

Miranda rolled her eyes and glanced at Shepard with an impassive look; she wasn't thoroughly amused. Shepard had told her about Mordin's advice on _'inventive use of mass effect fields'_ and had of course gladly shown her the instructional booklets, diagrams and _a lot_ of vids which Mordin had sent him. It wasn't that Miranda hadn't occasionally been creative with her biotic powers while they were having sex, but even she had been surprised what she could learn from the material and it had been welcoming because she was always eager to learn more.

And from Liara's end of the table it seemed like the asari slightly blushed but couldn't help herself and listened in because she was intrigued why an salarian would give sex advice to a human.

Shepard chuckled, "But he was mostly just making fun of me."

Joker had calmed down and rapidly asked, "When did this happen?"

Shepard shrugged, "Around the time people figured out Miranda and I was an item. I think he was the first one who did actually. I was quite perplexed when he brought up the subject."

Joker continued keenly, "What did Mordin advice on?"

"Never mind that Joker," Shepard said and shook his head.

"But, come on!" The pilot protested.

Miranda warned with narrowing eyes, "Joker..."

"Eh, you two are no fun," Joker conceded with a mumble.

Liara interjected and steered the conversation in another direction, "I didn't know Mordin. But it's sad losing one of...us. But what he succeeded in was securing an alliance between the turians and the krogans. Without that sacrifice..."

"And now that we have the krogan on our side. What happens now?" Joker asked in a more serious manner then earlier.

Garrus asserted, "We fight the Reapers on Palaven and turn the tide. It's time the krogan shoot at something useful instead."

"I agree, I mean the krogan are bad asses. I rather it is the Reapers getting their asses handed to them and not ours," Joker proclaimed.

"So, now that the krogan will be singing songs about you to the end of time, how do you feel about that Shep?" Garrus inquired cheekily before he added respectfully "Frankly, I would consider it an honor."

"I think the one they should praise is Mordin actually. But with all the anguish in our galaxy I think it's good that finally something worked out for the better."

Joker chimed in, "You know they're gonna build a big statue in your honor."

"I know. I could live without that." Shepard mumbled to everyone's enjoyment as they laughed at Shepard's behavior.

"Before I met you John I had never witnessed history in the making. The battle of the Citadel, the Collector mission and now Tuchanka. It's...humbling being part of this," Garrus said.

Shepard nodded, "I've to agree, my life took a sharp left hand turn after Eden Prime."

"Let's just hope Wrex can do some good for the krogan and keeps running the show with Eve." Garrus shook his head and said gratified of Wrex's presence, "Think of all the mayhem if someone else was in charge like his brood brother Wreav or that other krogan clan leader we killed during Grunt's rite."

Miranda chimed in, "There's still a possibility that can happen. I hope not."

Garrus nodded, "Oh, I know Miranda. But the outlook for the future is better now with Wrex and Eve around."

Miranda agreed, "Let's hope our luck holds. And also be thankful Cerberus didn't succeed in whatever they were planning on Tuchanka."

Joker quipped, "You know, working for Cerberus was like driving a spike through your head. Sure, you've got something new in there, but in the end, you've lost something as well."

Garrus chuckled, "Indeed, it feels good being the good guys again." Garrus' mandibles twitched and he looked at Miranda, "No offense Miranda."

Miranda shook her head and smiled friendly, "None taken. It's much better being under the command of John then being part of Cerberus."

Joker teased, "With emphasize on being _under_ the Commander."

Shepard frowned and chided, "Joker!"

Miranda narrowed her eyes on the pilot and shot daggers at him.

"What?" Joker asked innocently.

Shepard asked annoyed, "Don't you have a ship to pilot?"

Joker gestured dismissively at Shepard, "You guys are no fun at all. And besides it is in the capable hands of EDI, isn't that right EDI?"

The AI interjected over the intercom, _"Indeed. And we're currently 17 hours to the Petra Nebula. And Shepard?"_

"Yes EDI?"

_"I'm impressed by your continued existence Shepard. The probability of surviving as long as you've done is low."_

Shepard wasn't sure how to respond to that, "Uh...thanks?"

EDI continued, _"I have been going over the destruction of the Reaper on Tuchanka. For a technologically superior race to be defeated by an inferior race is very rare."_

Joker said sarcastically, "Yeah, so now we all need is a gun that fires tresher maws."

"Summoning the mother of all thresher maws? You never make it dull, do you Shep?" Garrus interjected with a chuckle.

EDI continued her analysis, _"The Reapers are not as superior as they claim. Despite its best efforts, the Reaper on Tuchanka was overwhelmed by bombers before being destroyed by a worm. And let's not forget the efforts of the combined human/turian fleets that repelled wave after wave of Reaper ships. I will contemplate this. Logging you out."_

Joker drank the last of his water and stood up with his tray in hand, "Well, I'll return to the cockpit. See you guys around."

Joker took his leave towards the kitchen while the others said their goodbyes to him.

Garrus leaned closer to Shepard and said in a low voice, "For a guy named 'Joker', he tells some terrible ones. But with the krogan on our side, I guess he's allowed to celebrate."

Shepard smiled and nodded, "I agree, and he did a good job during the battle so kudos to him."

* * *

Eventually both Liara and Garrus disappeared from the table as well, they returned to their respective parts of the deck while Shepard and Miranda finished their breakfast. Miranda took their trays with kitchenware and glasses to the kitchen to put them into the washing machine while Shepard disappeared towards the infirmary where Chakwas was at her usual place.

Chakwas turned to the doors as they slid open and Shepard walking in.

"Good morning Commander. Here for a checkup?"

Shepard shook his head as he walked over to her, "No I'm fine Karin...Mordin left an OSD and a datapad for me?"

Chakwas nodded and opened one of the drawers of her table where she had placed the items and gave it to him. Both devices had each a yellow post-it with 'Shepard' scribbled on them.

Chakwas glanced at Shepard and said saddened, "I'm...it's sad that Mordin is no longer with us."

Shepard pulled up the other office chair next to Chakwas and sat down. "Yes." He reassured Chakwas, "But he wanted to do this, it was his choice. He never wavered. It was his responsibility he said."

She pondered and nodded, "I guess so. It seems fitting for our salarian doctor."

Shepard agreed, "Yes. No regrets from him what-so-ever, I can promise you that. Are you alright?"

"I'm just thinking of Earth and all other Reaper-occupied worlds...I'm wondering what's happening to all the people on those worlds," Chakwas lamented. "How many are in agony at this moment?"

"It's grim to think about it. Sadly there isn't much we can do for those dying right at this moment. We can only do so much and just push on to end the war as soon as possible and help those who survive."

"I can't help but to remember how helpless I felt after we had been taken by the Collectors. How frightened I was." She started sobbing remembering when she had been captured by the Collectors, "I'm not fine at all Shepard, with everything's going..."

Shepard wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "I know. If you want some time off..."

Chakwas cleared her throat, "No, I keep myself occupied here; otherwise I think about...everything."

"You know, I can stay a while if you want some company."

Chakwas glanced out the window and saw Miranda leaning on the counter, presumably waiting for Shepard.

"No, your lady is waiting for you Commander."

Shepard chuckled lightly, "Well I think she will be alright if you want me to stay."

"You shouldn't keep a woman waiting Commander. Didn't you know that?" Chawas said with a weak smile. "I'll be alright; I can always find Greg later if I need some company."

Shepard nodded, "Okay. But how about we take a glass of brandy or two tonight if nothing comes up?"

"I'd like that Commander," Chakwas said with a friendly smile as she regained her composure.

"Good, then it's a date. I'll get in touch later." Shepard said with a friendly smile and rose from the chair and lifted it to its original place.

"Of course Shepard."

Shepard left the infirmary and walked over to Miranda leaning on the counters.

"Is everything alright with Chakwas?" Miranda asked after seeing what had transpired in the infirmary. She straightened herself from the counter.

"She remembered the captivity with the Collectors, and with everything else going on she's a little rattled. But she assured me she'll be fine if she occupied herself with some work. I'll check in on her later."

Miranda nodded and the two of them took their leave from the mess hall and headed over to the elevator. Shepard had some official business to take care of and had handed the devices to Miranda and they rode the elevator down to engineering were they shared a quick kiss and said their goodbyes before Shepard disappeared in the direction of Zaeed's quarters while Miranda took the elevator up to their quarters.

Shepard shortly walked through the door to Zaeed's quarters and found the mercenary seated at his table doing maintenance on his sniper rifle.

Zaeed looked up and growled, "Shepard."

"Zaeed. What's happening today?"

The mercenary shrugged, "Not goddamn much." He loosened the last pin keeping the upper and under receiver of the rifle together and separated the parts from each other. "Your Lieutenants down below are good enuff armourers but I rather do dis myself."

"Sure." Shepard said and leaned his shoulder on the wall next to the table and noted the open whiskey bottle on the table. "Isn't that a little early?"

Zaeed snorted, "The whiskey? It'll give yew some hair on your chest Shepard."

"Exactly what I always needed," Shepard chuckled.

Zaeed turned his chair around from the table to face Shepard and said amazed, "I tell you, ever since bumpin' into yew I've seen some crazy shit. That sandwawm? Fuck!"

"It was intense," Shepard agreed.

"First Contact pales in comparison ter all these galaxy savin' missions. It'll be one 'ell ov a story ter tell if we survive."

"And one hell of a party too."

"I'll drink ter that," Zaeed said and swiped down some whiskey from the bottle.

"You never thought of putting the Blue Suns back to its former glory after killing Vido?"

Zaeed shook his head and put away the bottle, "No. Goddamn batarians an' other low life. The Suns are nothin' mawer than terrorists now adays. And the curren' leader? What a cunt."

"Yeah? Who seized power after Vido?"

"A punk named Darner Vosque. He shot 'is mouth ov on a patrol mission once, got half his squad killed." Zaeed continued sarcastically, "Real popular after that."

"They aren't in capable hands then."

"No. We couldn't boot 'im from the Suns fast enough, think he was wiv us fer six months. Inexperienced little shit even back then. Should 'ave ended his tenure wiv a bullet. Maybe after dis war when enuff curren' scumbags have been killed I could consider muscle myself in. But I did have plans wiv all what money from the Illusive Man but I got sidetracked."

"Instead you went after Vido."

"Huh 'uh. I got an anonymous tip on 'is location. I think your asari sweetheart up above sen' it, but I can't be sure. Or maybe it was just some random bloke who wan'ed 'im dead. I 'ad put out some feelers." Zaeed shrugged, "Doesn't matter. Vido's dead. 20 goddamn years later. Felt fuckin' good."

"No retirement plan after the war?"

"Sure, a sunny beach, an umbrella drink an' two asari hookers at me side could be fun."

Shepard chuckled, "Sounds pleasant enough I guess."

"Ever fucked asari, Shepard?" A blunt question came from Zaeed.

"Uh, I've had my share of adventures," Shepard said cautiously.

"Vakarian told me once about yew helping the Consort. Too bad she left the Citadel, she could make some money on the war." Zaeed grinned, "Your doing?"

"Funny," Shepard said sardonically. "Run in with the tabloid press."

"Would it be well placed money fer a round wiv her?"

"That's what you are going to do with your money? I think a regular call-girl would suffice. Cheaper to."

Zaeed gestured dismissively, "Yeah, yeah. Is she any good?"

Shepard chuckled, "Centuries in any kind of work will make you proficient in it."

The mercenary smirked, "Thought so."

"That's all you wanted to know?"

Zaeed smirked, "Yeah, yew know while we were on the subject. Anyway, wiv the batarians all but wiped out maybe I can settle down on Elysium, it'll probably take a while befawer they can muster anythin' resemblin' their old pirate campaigns. And if we manage ter save the galaxy i' could probably get me enuff points so the authorities'll leave me alone."

"That many escapades around the galaxy?"

Zaeed chuckled darkly, "Yeah. I 'ave only told yew a fraction ov it. Remind me next time an' I'll tell yew a tall tale or two."

"You war stories are always fun to hear about Zaeed," Shepard chuckled.

"But I'll let yew get back ter work. Or yew can let me get back ter work, this gun need some loving."

"Sure Zaeed. See you around."

"Later Shepard."

Shepard left Zaeed and traveled down to the cargo bay with the elevator which was void off people with the exception of Cortez tinkering with one of the thrusters on the Kodiak. As Shepard walked over he glanced over at Vega's alcove and even their burly Lieutenant was somewhere else at the moment.

Cortez was hunkered down over the right thruster and had removed a panel to expose its internals. He had a weld mask on his face to protect his eyes and was using a welder gun on the internal machinery. Shepard had no idea what the pilot was up to though. Shepard was to write a report on the previous mission and wanted to know if the Kodiak was going to be grounded for the mission to Grissom and if they instead would use the backup Kodiak located on the opposite side of the cargo bay. Plus he wanted the check up on their pilot to see how he was.

Shepard stopped nearby and shouted over the noise from the handheld welder, "Steve, what's the situation on the Kodiak?"

Cortez fired the wielder for a few more seconds before he stepped away and removed the mask from his face and turned to Shepard, "The flak damaged some of the inertia dampener coils so I'm just making sure they work properly. They can be a little twitchy during normal use so I don't want them to really act up because of battle damage. But don't worry; this bird will be rock solid for tomorrow."

The pilot went down on his knees and dropped the welder and the mask into a tool box on the floor and rose up again.

Shepard nodded, "Good to hear Steve. But don't work yourself fatigued, I always find you down here working your ass off. Ever take some down time?"

"Don't worry Shepard, I get my sleep. One thing I'm not going to do is fly tired, it's even worse than flying drunk, and I'm not going to jeopardize anyone's life."

"Right, but everyone needs some R&R. What about you?"

Cortez shrugged, "I need to keep my mind busy otherwise I drift away...well you know."

"I appreciate your dedication to the mission, but I don't want you burned out."

"I'm well aware of my limits Commander; I've been flying for ten years. And when I shuttle the team during missions you guys life's are in my hands and I'm not going to risk anyone," Cortez reassured.

Shepard walked over to the thruster and leaned on it, "So what do a fighter jock do to relax?"

Cortez chuckled, "We usually get drunk at the O'Club, maybe some gaming or some crazy stunt on shore leave which usually involves more alcohol."

Shepard grinned, "That's relaxing?"

"No. When I was deployed onboard the Einstein to Arcturus. I usually went up to the observation deck which overlooked the main flight paths on the station. I could watch every ship taxiing in and out. I could be up there alone and just watch them drift by in silence."

"You can do that on the Citadel. We will head back eventually, take some time off and watch those ships. There's a great view on Deck D24, you know?"

"I don't know...maybe." Cortez said hesitant.

"Come on LT, don't make it an order," Shepard joked friendly.

Cortez chuckled, "Well, if you order me how can I resist?"

"Do it as a favor to me."

Cortez smiled "You got it Shepard."

Shepard nodded pleased, "Good. You never told me your callsign. 'Unofficial' stuff like that don't make it to your service record."

Cortez chuckled, "I went through a few during my pilot training but when I reported to my first unit - the Diamondbacks - they bestowed me the name FUNGUS as I was the new guy. It means Fuck You New Guy, You Suck. And it has stuck since."

"That's nice of them," Shepard said sardonically.

Cortez laughed, "Yeah well, all new guys are treated like that. You're a marine as well, and a grunt to boot, you know how fouled mouthed we are."

"Well, that was a long time ago when I wasn't the suave officer and a gentleman I am today," Shepard quipped.

"You know the rule about callsigns. If you complain your 'buddies' will either come up with something worse or they will stick with the current one. It's also a rule to make fun of the person in question, either looks, personality or if you ever did something stupid. There can be worse callsigns, you know?"

"Such as?"

Cortez chuckled, "We had this female OPSO when I was at 'Top Gun', good looking - yes I can recognize a sexy woman - and we called her Diesel. She thought it was because she wore Diesel-jeans on her spare time," Cortez grinned mischievously, "but it was the pronunciation of the acronym DSL..."

Shepard couldn't help himself and chuckled, but shook his head at what callsigns pilots, or rather marines, could come up with, "You guys aren't nice to each other that's for sure."

Cortez shrugged, "Maybe, but that's how we pilots are. No one gets away, and when all the FNG's come to a squad all us veterans have a field day to make up new callsigns for the new arrivals, and sometimes those callsigns aren't very nice. The perk of being senior in a fighter squadron."

"Does James know about 'FUNGUS'?"

"Oh yeah, but he rather comes up with his own nicknames. And Esteban is the friendliest I've had if we lump it into the callsigns category."

"Any other less than savory callsigns amongst your peers?" Shepard asked with a smirk.

"Well there was AHAB, Always Humping Asari Bitches...because that's what he did. I usually had Lieutenant 'Cunny' Linggi as a wingman a few years back. In a sister squadron - they flew FB-60's - there was Pampers; a backseater who had...a nozzle failure during flight."

"With friends like that giving you callsigns like that you don't need enemies," Shepard pointed out with a grin.

Cortez chuckled and shook his head. He noted the elevator doors open behind Shepard and saw Vega stepping out who noted Shepard and Cortez and headed over to them.

Cortez spoke up with a loud voice, "If Mr. Vega here was a pilot we would probably call him Flex as he seems to show off himself every instance he can."

Vega stopped at them and grinned, "I knew you liked the show Esteban."

Cortez shrugged nonchalantly but said nothing.

"What's up guys?" Vega asked.

"Nothing really, just talking a bit," Shepard said. "Everything good with you James?"

"Oh yeah. One hell of an intense mission yesterday." Vega looked at Shepard worryingly but deadpanned, "You think that cure that was dispersed can do anything to us? We're not going to grow scales or anything right?"

"I suspect we will be alright James," Shepard assured the burly marine.

"Yeah, I'm kinda fine with my current physical appearance and all," Vega mused. "I didn't know your salarian friend, but my condolences."

Shepard nodded appreciatively.

Vega smiled, "But man was he something else. That mouth of his moved faster than a frog on a hot rock in the middle of the summer."

Shepard chuckled, "Yeah, he was a fast talker. Took a bit of time to get used to it."

"I can imagine."

"Anyway guys, I got a report to file so I'll see you around," Shepard said, "It was good talking James. FUNGUS."

Vega turned surprised to Cortez, "You told him?"

Cortez nodded, "Yeah."

Vega chuckled and he and Cortez said their goodbyes to their Commander as he left for the elevator and took it back to his quarters. Once there he stepped out and entered the room.

Shepard saw Miranda by the closet getting changed into her snug training outfit, she turned as she heard the doors open and saw him walking inside and down the stairs.

She finished up and turned to Shepard and smiled, "Hey."

"Heading down to the gym?" Shepard stopped nearby and they shared a quick kiss.

"Yes."

"So what's on the agenda today?"

"Stomach and thighs."

"The perfectly sculptured ones," Shepard said with a grin and reached out with his hand and caressed her thighs and abdomen lovingly.

Miranda giggled, "Yes, I have to exercise them to be that way."

Shepard smirked, "I won't stop you."

Miranda chuckled, "I know. What will you entertain yourself with while I'm gone?"

"I'll write the report on the genophage-mission so it's out of the way so we can focus on Grissom tomorrow."

Miranda nodded, "I understand. I'll see you after lunch."

"Alright."

They shared a few soft kisses and Miranda left their quarters while Shepard went up to the office and fired up the computer.

* * *

**_Quotes: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords_**

**_The callsigns were lifted from F-16 dot net's callsign database. Just tweaked the Diesel callsign a bit; the original story was that the pilot always talked about Vin Diesel but I figured maybe he won't be such a big name in 2186 compared to today. The acronym DSL you have to figure out yourself through Urban Dictionary if you don't know ;) and AHAB actually means Always Humping Asian Bitches. If anyone feels offended send an angry letter to the United States Navy and/or Air Force, it's their pilots shenanigans._**

**_Ideas and co-authoring 'alternatives on fertility'-dialogue with xXserialkillerXx._**

**_This is actually part of a much larger chapter but I've divided them because of sheer length. Expect "part 2" next week. _**

**_OPSO: Operations Officer._**

**_Edited 2013-05-05: Random grammatical changes. Extended Miranda's thoughts, credit to xXserialkillerxX._**


	36. Ghosts from the Past

Half of Normandy's day shift had went for lunch in the mess hall while the other half was scattered throughout the ship and manned their stations and would get their lunch break half an hour later when the first batch of marines returned to their stations. It was done this way in order to always keep a manned presence.

Traynor stepped out of the elevator and headed for the kitchen to prepare her lunch. She had been kept busy the entire morning, reviewing all the new intelligence from the turians as well as cataloguing war reports and monitoring communications so the Commander easily could find what was necessary. She liked her position onboard the Normandy, despite being out of her element she had transitioned rather well into a support role, and despite not being a grunt on the ground she felt she was contributing a bit to help Commander Shepard whenever possible.

She had been intimidated by the Commander before she met him properly. All kinds of rumors and reputation were flying around after the Battle of the Citadel as well as his dealings with Cerberus and she didn't know what was true or what were just outrageous theories and ramblings. But when she actually talked to him she noted how easy going he was, as well as quite funny and charming. Although she was more than a little jealous of him, he was after all in a relationship with a very beautiful woman. Traynor had lamented a few times that Miranda Lawson was straight and taken, she had even fantasized once or twice about exploring that body and how Shepard's girlfriend might...taste like.

_Oh well, it's nothing that can be done about that, _Traynor thought as she finished preparing her lunch on her tray and brought it to one of the tables where a few marines were seated.

The two war room guards - Westmoreland and Campbell - where there with Jones and Dieter from the CIC and a few others. Traynor didn't particularly like the war room guards as they always seemed to undermine morale a bit with their ranting about Shepard, the war and the other alien species. That no officer had caught them yet surprised Traynor, considering that an officer had the obligation to report them to Shepard. She had toyed with the idea to inform Shepard, but on such a small ship it could backfire on her and she could be ostracized by the enlisted and she didn't particularly like that idea either. But that enlisted gossiped and ranted about anything and everything was common, Traynor had after all been around in the military for some time now. It certainly wasn't anything new.

"Hey guys," the Londoner greeted as she took a seat next to the CIC operators.

Those nearby greeted her friendly.

"You found your way down here as well Sam," Jones stated as he sat down his glass of water on his tray.

"Yes. Had to finish up the final things before grabbing some food," Traynor said and began eating her lunch.

"I guess with the success of the mission last night there's a lot to do?" Dieter asked.

Traynor nodded as she ate some food, "Oh yes. A lot of new intelligence and reports that I need to sift through now that the turians joined the war effort. Always something keeping me busy."

On the other end of the table Westmoreland snorted, "Took them long enough. Too much scratching each other's back, when the species should rally against the Reapers instead of worrying about all the backroom deals that's being done."

"The new rumor is that the salarians are keeping themselves isolated because of the genophage cure," Campbell chimed in.

"The salarians have always been isolationistic," Jones pointed out.

"When this war is over we should go after the ones who sat it out," Westmoreland said contemptuous.

"Oh, great. End one war and begin a new one. Don't you think we had enough war by then?" Jones stated sardonically.

"They shouldn't get away with doing nothing," Campbell said annoyed.

"Maybe. But maybe they'll come to their senses if a few of their colonies are attacked. So far the Reapers haven't attacked any."

"The salarians and the asari are a bunch of idiots," Westmoreland snorted.

"Divide and conquer," Traynor said.

Dieter nodded as he poked around his food with his fork, "Yeah, the Reapers aren't stupid. But that the krogan and turians are on the team must mean something good for us at least. We've come farther than we where a day ago."

"Yes, but what of the consequences of the genophage being cured? Wonder if our esteemed commander thought about that?" Westmoreland asked derisively.

"You don't support it?" Traynor asked.

Westmoreland shook her head, "Does he ever think of the consequences? It feels like the man just push forward without thinking at all. Take Bahak for instance; it was the push of a button and 300 000 people died in an instant. Could he really be sure the Reapers were coming? He had a lot of bad history with the batarians, and whether he admits it or not, some part of him might have been glad to have done it."

"Since when did you start to like the batarians?" Jones asked.

"Since when was it alright to commit mass murder on that level? But it seems everything is okay as long as Shepard does it."

Jones snorted, "You make Shepard out to be some sort of monster."

"How can you just shrug all this death of like that? I don't know exactly what sort of man Shepard is, but he is made out to be some sort of misunderstood martyr/saint. Does that sort of man just kill 300 000 people like it's nothing? Have you seen him all broken up about what he did just a few months ago? I just think that a man that we are told Shepard is would be a wreck after doing what he did, and it all just bounces of him like it's nothing," Westmoreland vehemently countered.

The involved party stayed silent for a moment and even if Samantha disagreed with the interpretations, she could not deny that Westmorland was asking some valid questions.

Jones interjected annoyed after gathering his thoughts, "He is where he is because he can deal with that pressure, and he can't show us weakness. You can just as well assume that he made a hard choice because it was the right thing to do, which would be consistent with his character, and not question everything we know about him. Besides the Reapers did attack the batarians first, did you forget about that little detail? So it's pretty obvious they came from somewhere."

"The general populace outside a select few in the Alliance doesn't know any details," Traynor said. "I don't think we should cast judgment based on rumors."

"That's my point!" Westmoreland cried out exasperated, "Everything's hush-hush. Such an large event and it was all swept under the rug and it almost got us into war with the batarians and we didn't even knew of the details other than a Cerberus-vessel was in the Bahak-system and later the entire system and it's populace was wiped out!"

"Maybe not everything is that black and white?"

Campbell chimed in, "There has to be some accountability. I can't fathom how the war effort rides solely on this man who went rogue and joined Cerberus. For all we know the Bahak-incident could have been a Cerberus plot to destabilize Alliance/batarian relations. And for all intents and purposes that was what happened."

Dieter countered, "I don't think the war effort is solely in the hands of the Commander-"

Campbell cut him off, "Really? He negotiates with salarians, turans and the krogan. It's pretty obvious Alliance Command have Shepard running the important facets of the war."

Jones snickered, "Since when did you become a decision maker? You're a Private just like me. Do you really think Admirals will listen to you? We're here to make sure this warship runs smoothly during combat operations to support the Commander's mission. Pretty straightforward. We don't question ranking officers, we are enlisted."

"I can't abide to a man who was associated with terrorists and does things on a whim and gets away with atrocities," Campbell said.

"And how do you know he does things on a whim?" Jones countered.

Westmoreland sighed, "Why does everyone just accept what he is doing? Because he's some kind of hero? His dealings with Cerberus all those mercenaries and pirates from Omega shows that he deals with questionable characters."

Dieter drank some coffee and said hesitantly, "Well…maybe but-"

"Then there's the ex-Cerberus operative onboard. Who is she and why does he trust her so much?"

Campbell snorted, "Wouldn't surprise me if she's sleeping her way up the chain of command."

"I don't think we should criticize the Commander." Traynor said. "He's a SPECTRE and can carry out his mission as he sees fit and bring onboard anyone he wants. Plus his team seems to have no problem with Ms. Lawson."

Westmoreland chuckled humorlessly, "There it is again. You accept the Commander on the basis of being a hero. You don't see all the ugliness surrounding everything. Cerberus is one of those things, and so is Bahak. He has powerful friends, money, and he's above the law, that's how he gets away with things like Bahak and bringing aboard that Cerberus woman."

"I kinda agree with Bethany on this ex-Cerberus woman. It's…certainly a surprising addition to have her here;" Dieter said. "But the Commander's ground team hasn't raised any questions either so…I don't know. But then again, does Alliance Command know? It would sure raise some eyebrows."

"Finally," Westmoreland said and continued derisively, "Half of the men on the ship are leering all over her. Those morons couldn't resist her if they wanted. And she dresses like a whore. She needs to make sure The Commander is thinking with his other head."

Traynor recognized Westmoreland had used the exact same phrase in a couple of previous discussions she had listened in on, this wasn't the first time the guard railed away at Shepard not…thinking properly because of his significant other. She believed the focus on the XO's sex appeal steamed from jealousy.

Traynor interjected annoyed, "I don't think he's that easy to manipulate."

Campbell countered agitated, "Really? How do we know that she hasn't manipulated him and are pulling the strings? Her mere presence should make people think twice about what's really going on. It doesn't take a lot to imagine what someone from Cerberus is like. She's full of herself – as Corporal Morris found out when she came onboard and she walked all over him. And didn't Vakarian once say she was called the Ice Queen in Cerberus, cold and calculated? How would someone like that manage charm Shepard? And Bahak has Cerberus written all over it."

Westmoreland said, "Maybe the Alliance released him because no matter what he did he was too important to the war effort. And take into account how far up the Commander is in the Alliance. People listen to him and so maybe it isn't too improbable that Cerberus would plant someone, say a sultry brunette, to gain access to him. The honeypot technique has been used in the past."

Jones countered, "The Alliance probably had a good reason to believe he wasn't anybody's puppet."

"We don't know what she's done for Cerberus. And she's probably good with seduction the way she looks…" Dieter pondered,

"Maybe the good Commander got a little depressed with the mess with Cerberus, so she fucked his brains out and told him she loves him, and he was all hers." Campbell snorted derisively.

Jones retorted mockingly, "Maybe you are lonely and wished the Commander screwed you instead, and that is why you can't get of the fact that the XO is with him."

Campbell snarled, "That's not-!"

Jones chuckled as he cut her off, "But there's this thing in all militaries which officer's aren't necessarily supposed to socialize with enlisted off-duty if they're in the same command because that could cause all kind of troubles so you're pretty much shit out of luck, Sarah."

Campbell snorted angrily and cursed under her breath.

"You're getting sidetracked now. Maybe they're both psychopaths." Westmoreland murmured. "I had a friend who got labeled CAT6 after Eden Prime. Guess where he went after discharge? Cerberus. That's the kind of people who join."

Dieter who had been quiet looked up surprised from his plate, "Really? What did you do, Beth?"

"What do you think I did? I reported his ass immediately! I don't want that kind of shit on my service record."

Campbell mused, "Maybe this Australian is the reason he joined Cerberus? She could have worked for years to establish herself. What really happened after the SR1 was destroyed? People just assumed Shepard used it to go undercover, but maybe the truth is much more different. He could have joined Cerberus out of spite against the Alliance and the Council. After all there's all kind of rumors surrounding the destruction of the first Normandy."

Westmoreland chimed in, "The Alliance still didn't deny that he was dead. There were rumors that Cerberus rebuilt him and installed him with a control chip."

Jones snorted, "You are ridiculous."

Traynor shook her head. She couldn't believe people still believed Shepard died after he was found to be alive.

"Well, that is kinda hard to believe." Dieter asserted. "But what is actually rather well documented is that he never really liked batarians after Elysium. Maybe he was happy getting payback. But that he's still with Cerberus? I can't really see that with everything he's done. He stopped two Cerberus operations on Tuchanka and then it was Omega and Mars prior to that."

Jones agreed, "Yeah, I have problems seeing him with Cerberus with what he's been doing since the war started." Jones glanced at Westmoreland and Campbell, "I even have trouble seeing the XO still being with Cerberus. Shepard's inner circle sure doesn't seem to think so."

Westmoreland snorted, "Maybe he isn't with Cerberus, but he never liked batarians and what better way is there getting payback then blowing up a star system as part of Cerberus?"

Traynor was quiet and continued eating her food. This was the reason Traynor didn't like Westmoreland and Campbell. They saw conspiracies everywhere. And that Dieter was leaning towards parts of their 'reasoning' she didn't like either as it could spread amongst the rest of the crew…but she couldn't help but to wonder if there was some shed of truth behind all that rambling. She didn't think that their Commander was with Cerberus…but the things about the batarians she didn't really know what to think about. But in the end she didn't know much about Bahak and resorting to checking the extranet would undoubtedly only generate conspiracies such as those presented at the table.

Finally Traynor said and stressed, "These are just rumors, we can't jump to conclusions without-"

Westmoreland snapped, "Believe what you want Sam, if you want to be part of the cult of Shepard so be it, but there are too much at stake to let that man with some very loose and questionable morals to lead the Alliance against the Reapers."

Traynor shot back, "I'm just trying to resist jumping to any kind of conclusion based on rumors like some are doing here."

Campbell snorted, "Why do you insist on defending him? Because he lets you work on sensitive material?"

"If you have issues you can take it up with the Commander, didn't he say he would answer any questions regarding his time with Cerberus?"

Westmoreland chuckled derisively, "You think he's going to be truthful? I didn't think you were that naïve Sam."

Campbell rose up, "Come Beth, our lunch time us up we need to get to our station."

Traynor remained seated and ate the last of the food on her plate as the guards left and eventually so did the two CIC operators. She noted that the remaining marines, who had listened in on the conversation without participating, discussed the rumors in passing. A couple of them didn't buy into Westmoreland's or Campbell's reasoning while a few others sadly contemplated their reasoning. Soon enough those marines left the table, and the second half of the day shift entered the mess hall for lunch.

Traynor quickly finished up and left for the kitchen with her tray and kitchenware. She couldn't help but to wonder what had really transpired at Bahak; there had been some unsavory comments in the media after Shepard's incarceration and the batarians painted him as a war criminal, but the Alliance ignored it and kept Shepard away from the spotlight. Traynor put away her kitchenware in the dishwasher and headed for the elevator.

She needed some answers. Had she actually fallen for the heroic image of Commander Shepard and disregarded the hideous events of the past? Or was it all just insolent talk? Traynor stopped at the elevator and pressed the call button on the interface but it was already heading her way but it continued onwards to the decks above and to Shepard's quarters no less. Traynor wasn't entirely sure she wanted to go directly to Shepard right away and instead opted to speak to Lieutenant Vega first because she wasn't sure what to do with it all and Vega had after all guarded the Commander during his incarceration in London. And for all intents and purposes Lieutenant Vega wasn't necessarily in the Commander's inner circle as Liara and Garrus was.

Soon enough the elevator arrived and Traynor took it down to the cargo bay. Once there she noted the pilot busy working on the shuttle, someone who she hadn't spoken much with. The Specialist cut through the workstations further into the cargo bay and saw Vega's bulky form in his little alcove; he was standing at his own workbench working on something.

Traynor stopped slightly behind Vega and made her presence known, "Sir?"

Vega turned, "Uh, Specialist. What can I do for you?"

"This is...are you busy, sir?"

"Not really, just working on some of the weapons which saw some use yesterday. So what do you need?" Vega said and cross his arms over his chest and leaned his back on his workbench so he could face her.

Traynor didn't really know how to begin. As soon as an officer knew the extent of what was happening that officer had an obligation to report it to the Commander, especially as the war room guards were disrespectful towards a superior officer and that could definitely be considered a violation of military law.

She took a breath, "Sir, amongst the enlisted rumors are flying around about Commander Shepard and his business with Cerberus, but also what happened at Bahak. There is a lot of speculation going on. Of course it's nothing new that enlisted talk behind officers backs sir, but some individuals are throwing out rumors like it was almost fact, trying to get others to believe what they're saying. So far I don't think they had much success convincing, but they did cause some doubts. It's already harming morale, and down the line it might become a serious problem."

Traynor didn't believe anything that was said by the two trouble makers, but it made her think. Bahak was particularly troublesome, and thinking of what transpired there made her insides turn. It reminded her of some of the atrocities of the Second World War she read about. She never believed in that end justifies the means, but this war made her pause and she believed in the Commander's best intentions. She wanted to get Vegas opinion on the matter to put her mind at ease.

"What are they saying exactly?"

Traynor explained, "It is over the top, to say the least, conspiracies everywhere, and... they didn't mince words. They accused the Commander of being a manipulator; a cold blooded murder; a psychopath who was released from incarceration due to politics or desperation. Our XO was thoroughly torn apart, and they are convinced she is manipulating the Commander with her body... but far more explicitly. They said something about Bahak, that it was callous, and revenge for Elysium."

Vega collected his thoughts for a short moment and said, "First, I'm not sure how much I can talk about Bahak plus I wasn't told much beyond the basics, but apparently the Reapers were very close and if they had gained access to the Alpha Relay the invasion would have happened much sooner. Second I Idolized Shepard and he is basically the reason why I joined the Alliance. One thing you could have said about him before the detour with Cerberus is that he has integrity. I don't know how well known it is, but before Ilos Shepard had been grounded on the Citadel because the Council and the Alliance believed Shepard was exaggerating the threat and it was too risky to send him to the Terminus Systems. And Loco went off the reservation because he knew he needed to and despite what it might have cost him, and Admiral Anderson helped him."

"Uhm, I remember there was a lot of speculation back and forth on why he was grounded for a short time," Traynor said cautiously.

"Yeah, maybe that was the case," Vega shrugged, "Three years is three years though. Not everyone can know all the details as time passes. In any case, I don't like the business with Cerberus, but if he joined I say he had a good reason, and he not only stopped the Collectors..." Vega trailed off.

The Specialist noticed Vega's eyes downcast for a moment.

He cleared his throat and continued "But he also made sure their base didn't get into Cerberus hands and stole their ship and the crew apparently "I wouldn't think Garrus would have any reason to like Cerberus but whenever it comes up he seems to trust Miranda, or at the least Shepard's judgment, and so does everyone else from his old crew onboard, and I doubt that Shepard is manipulated. And if anything is said about their personal life people should butt-out, that's Shepard's and Lawson's private business. It's some sick stuff with Bahak, I just think Loco got caught between a rock and a hard place." His expression hardened, "And I know a thing about that. But if you want to know more about Bahak then you should try to ask the Commander."

Traynor nodded, "Understood sir."

"And who started this whole mess?"

Traynor fiddled with her finger for a few moments, "Well…the war room guards are pushing it."

"Right. You know this is certainly some violation of military law. They're disrespectful towards a commanding officer."

Traynor nodded, "I know sir. Morale can be affected if it continues further and someone should do something that's why I'm taken it up with you. I'm getting tired at it all whenever it shows up."

"You should take it up immediately with Shepard you have insight I lack."

"Yes sir. I'll go to him immediately."

Vega nodded, "Good. I'll make sure this stays between you and me."

"Thank you Lieutenant." Traynor said appreciatively.

Traynor returned to the elevators and once the doors closed, she contacted EDI to make sure she could visit the Commander at his quarters and EDI informed Traynor it was no problem and had given the Commander a heads up that Traynor was on her way. She took the elevator up to the Commander's quarters and felt a little apprehensive as she stepped outside the elevator. This was after all his private quarters and she was now effectively walking into the Commander's private life when she entered the quarters. His sanctuary amongst all the chaos. She had never been there.

Traynor stopped outside the door and knocked on it and waited patiently. It only took a few seconds before the door slid open and revealed Commander Shepard inside.

"Specialist. EDI said you wanted to talk. What seems to be the problem?" Shepard greeted evenly and motioned for Traynor to enter.

Traynor was still a little nervous and she walked in a bit hesitantly and couldn't help to be amazed by the apartment. The large fish tank had a very calming effect, several alien fishes was swimming around and eating from the food dropped down by the VI-controlled feeding apparatus.

"Wow sir, this is larger than most apartments," Traynor said in amazement.

Shepard chuckled as she passed him, "Cerberus spared no expense that's for sure. But I'm sure you aren't here to admire my quarters."

The door closed behind Traynor with a hiss.

Traynor stopped and noted Miranda sitting at the computer in the office typing feverishly on the keyboard. Shepard's lover turned and gave Traynor a brief nod.

"Specialist."

"Ms. Lawson," Traynor greeted professionally. She noted Miranda's damp hair, she had probably taken a shower not long ago and Traynor couldn't help but take in the delightful scent from Miranda's shampoo.

_She certainly has good taste._

Despite the fact that Ms. Lawson wasn't very sociable she at least seemed to try and be friendly, and Traynor had on a few occasions worked and even talked to her. And if both Lieutenant Vega and Garrus vouched for the ex-Cerberus operative it surely had a lot more weight than two Privates making up rumors as they went because of some preconceived notion about the Commander and Ms. Lawson. Plus Traynor herself felt that if Ms. Lawson fought against Cerberus, helping disrupt their operations, at least that should give anyone suspecting her of being a Cerberus plant pause to ponder other more plausible scenarios.

Shepard stopped near her and she turned her attention to him, "No sir, I'm not here to admire your apartment. But it is nice though."

Traynor mentally slapped herself. She was nervous and appeared to be a bit like a goofball when she just looked around the cabin and complemented on it. And then her eyes lingered a few seconds to long at Ms. Lawson. This certainly was a tell-tale symptom of nervousness.

_Clever Samantha,_ she thought sarcastically.

Shepard deadpanned, "Ah, well thank you. I decorated it." He quickly turned professional, "But what can I do for you?"

"Well sir, there are some of the enlisted who are spreading rumors about...well your association with Cerberus and what happened at Bahak. They're trying to get other enlisted to believe said rumors. So far I would say most don't believe any of it, but some are talking. I'm afraid it can affect morale."

At the computer, Miranda stopped typing and turned her chair around to face Shepard and Traynor. She said nothing and only observed the two.

Traynor noticed the Commander's tense state when he heard the name Bahak. He looked at her expectantly and took it as her cue to continue, "I talked to Lieutenant Vega and he believed it would be best to talk to you about it."

"And it certainly is, Specialist." Shepard pointed out. He gestured for Traynor to walk down to the lounge. "Maybe we should sit, and take me through it all."

Behind them Traynor heard Miranda leaving the computer and she joined them at the lounge and Traynor took a seat in the armchair while the two others sat in the couch. She informed them of the two Privates who were the instigators in all this and every little rumor she could remember while both Shepard and Miranda listened. After fifteen minutes Traynor was finished.

"That's the gist of it sir." Traynor said.

Shepard murmured, "We have a war to fight, I don't have time for this kind of soap opera. _We_ don't have time for this."

"Yes sir."

Shepard continued, "This was new and it was good that you came here, this needs to be handled before it gets get out of control."

"I thought so too Commander."

"I guess you have a few questions yourself?"

"Well...yes sir." Traynor said cautious.

Shepard was quiet for a few moments thinking about his course of action and then he said, "If this had only been confined with the two Privates I could have taken them aside and reprimanded them but it seems this in one way or the other have spread amongst the ranks so I think I'll have to address the entire ship's crew on this topic to have it out of the way." Shepard chuckled humorlessly, "I'm not entirely surprised, but I did say that if they had questions they could have approached me."

"Yes, I remember that too sir."

"Okay Specialist, I'll assemble the crew soon enough and address this so if you just wait until then."

"Understood Commander."

"I'll follow you out."

"That's alright sir," Traynor said and rose from the armchair, "I'll see myself out."

Shepard nodded and soon enough Traynor had left the room and the door closed behind her.

Miranda gritted her teeth but had remained impassive during Traynor's briefing. She hissed, "Bloody hell."

Shepard nodded and said annoyed, "Yeah."

She snorted, "Typical Alliance attitude. I knew something like this would happen when I came onboard."

"Easy there Miri." Shepard implored, "I want you here and that's all that matters. I'm not here to be the crew's friend nor is this a democracy. I'm the CO and I'm also a SPECTRE and I can and will bring aboard anyone I want." Shepard grinned, "And you're the most competent XO I've ever had the _pleasure_ to work with."

Shepard slid an arm around her back and waist and drew her closer to his embrace.

Miranda smirked, "Is that right Commander?"

"Yes."

Miranda turned and put an arm around his shoulders and said teasingly, "I guess there are some perks sleeping with the CO."

"I hope so," Shepard said and kissed her lips softly.

Miranda giggled at Shepard's antics despite what she just had been made aware of.

Shepard contemplated and said evenly, "The crew's job is to support the mission with a battle ready warship. I'm going to deal with this so we can focus on our mission."

Miranda nodded as she gently caressed his neck. After a short pause she pointed out uninspired, "You know, Specialist Traynor have a tendency to stare when she doesn't think I'm looking or noticing."

Shepard grinned, "Well, you are easy on the eyes."

Miranda snorted, "You know I'm not too fond of people staring."

"I'll talk to her when I get a chance."

Miranda shook her head and said evenly, "No, I'll do it. But I've scarcely bumped into her or I just had other things on my mind at a specific moment."

"You do that." Shepard called out, "EDI, access your audio bank, we have a few things to sort out you and me."

_"Of course Shepard. Standing by."_

* * *

After sifting through EDI's audio banks they had indeed found some incriminating recordings which proved what Traynor had said. Both Shepard and Miranda weren't pleased with the attack on them, and more specifically on Shepard, as he was painted as some kind of mass murderer who killed civilians without much care.

Shepard, who wasn't directly versed in military law, took a few minutes to read the Alliance Uniform Code of Law on his omni-tool and concluded pretty fast that the two Privates were in violation of article 89, 'disrespect towards a superior commissioned officer'. But despite it all he wasn't sure if taking two Privates to court-martial was the 'right' thing to do considering the war, but he would certainly deal with it as he couldn't allow such dissent to fester. And he certainly had more important things to worry about rather than some court-martial hearing over his hurt feelings.

Shepard had a thick skin, but he couldn't help but be tired of playing the role of a pariah. He knew many of his actions were controversial, he killed people and that was enough, but he felt secure in his reasons for doing so. Most people would never want to witness what his work was, but they accepted it as a sad necessity. However Bahak crossed the line and he forever became a controversial figure even to himself.

A hero or a monster.

He wasn't going to make any excuses to some enlisted personnel onboard his warship, but the faith in his leadership had been shaken. He had after all weeks earlier decided to be frank about his dealings with Cerberus but no one had taken up on that invitation which wasn't as surprising really. Despite his feelings towards the Alliance some things were classified so it was a fine line to walk what he could and couldn't reveal, but now he needed to come clean to the crew and set the record straight before doubt could grow further.

He had called for an assembly of both the day and night shifts in the mess hall, thus the night shift had their sleep cut short. His team didn't need to be present as they believed in Shepard and also trusted Miranda, but they had decided to show up as well; Liara and Garrus had sat down on the steps leading up to the gunnery station, Zaeed leaned on the fridge in the background slicing up pieces of an apple with an knife and eating them. Apparently the gruff mercenary was quite interested in Bahak as he had left the Normandy long before that mission and knew close to nothing about it beyond what had been reported in the media. Miranda was leaning on the counter next to Shepard who sat on top of it. She remained impassive but he knew she was furious much like him. Both Vega and Cortez hovered in the background near the infirmary and Chakwas joined them as well. Soon enough the entire ship's crew began pouring into the mess hall, standing at attention in front of the kitchen taking up the entire open space of the mess hall. Everyone was curious why they had been ordered to assemble.

Ensign Copeland walked up to Shepard and saluted, "Sir. Everyone is accounted for."

"Good, Ensign." Shepard said evenly and ordered, "At ease."

The rows of crewmembers relaxed a bit and the young Ensign walked over to the first row of assembled crewmembers.

Shepard dropped down from the counter and spoke commanding with annoyance slipping through.

"Thanks to the all seeing and all hearing AI I have learned that a few controversial facts have taken on a life of their own and become conspiracy theories fueled by a few misinformed people with no real knowledge to pass judgment. To be frank, considering what's going on with the war, I have to say I don't have the patience and time for this kind of soap opera in my command but as we're in transit I'll set things straight before this goes out of hand."

The crew remained professionally quiet as they listened to their Commander.

"To be fair, some information is either classified and only the knowledge of a select few so for misinformation to spread isn't surprising. And that servicemen gossip, if we're going to use that word, isn't new within any militaries. But this has turned into a fertile ground for misconceptions, and how can anyone oppose the rumors except just deny them when no actual facts have been presented? And people who have shaped opinions on a topic will have a way of putting pressure on people who don't. I suspected this as I've been around the Alliance my entire adult life and as such I did very early on present the opportunity to ask questions directly to me if there were any concerns. Surprising? No, but aggravating none the less."

Shepard continued evenly, "I've a history of achieving results but also a history of consistency and conviction. I didn't want to become a public figure because it encroached on my privacy and would put me in danger due to the circumstances surrounding MARSOC's operations, but at least the aforementioned traits were on display, which as time passed, helped me to create a reputation beyond my persona. This makes it so frustrating when people ignore years of work because some recent facts have more then one interpretation. Collateral damage is a virtual inevitability in combat, but I tried to avoid any unnecessary shortcuts and minimize collateral damage as much as possible, and I have been very successful… at least until very recently…which is the main reason for why we are all here today. It was a rocky road the last few years, up's and down's, but there is a single reason why you still have doubts."

"However it all began during my pursuit of Saren Arterius, and soon it became apparent that Sovereign wasn't a geth construction but rather something much more terrifying, a Reaper. However to the Council the mission was never about the Reapers but the liberties granted to me by virtue of being a SPECTRE allowed me to bypass problems caused by the lack of the Council's approval. And it didn't seem to make much difference whether I tried to convince them to take steps overtly or covertly, it was clear the more I pushed the more I lost in their eyes. But soon enough I was the 'Savior of the Citadel' and I got showered by medals and praise. I became the poster boy of the Alliance but the moment it was revealed I had taken action to convince people of the threat, and word leaked to the public that I believed Sovereign was a Reaper, I became a leper and a liability and was promptly sidelined. It was easy to blame the geth rather than to even consider that a legend, the harvesters of civilizations that destroyed the Prothean Empire, even existed. And the evidence was far from conclusive, but it was hard to to see each day pass by while nothing was done."

Shepard stopped for a moment to let his words sink in with the assembled. He had decided not to reveal that he had actually died, it would sideline everything and it seemed that the loss of the SR1 wasn't as pivotal as his shift to Cerberus according to EDI's recordings. Besides, it had been a traumatic experience and he wasn't keen on talking about it with enlisted. It was his private life and he wasn't close friends with any of the crew and didn't want to discuss it. He glanced over at Vega near the infirmary, not even the burly Lieutenant knew of it. His death and resurrection was classified above top secret within the Alliance and the Council and the knowledge of only a few, and far less knew of it now as the Reapers had destroyed Arcturus. It was far easier to let people believe whatever they wanted to believe about the destruction of SR1 and his…disappearance.

Shepard spoke strongly, "And then the SR1 was lost and it turned out I was alienated by both the Alliance and the Council as soon as I was listed as MIA. Some would go as so far to call me a mad man, and of course my cooperation with Cerberus didn't make things any better, but despite the shady reputation of that organization, Cerberus was doing _something_ while the Alliance and the Council did _nothing_ about the disappearances of human colonists. The choice was easy, the Collectors needed to be stopped and there were no other alternatives. Despite Cerberus' reputation even they can do things right, and the operation to take down the Collectors is bar none the best I've ever been part of. The Illusive Man let me see what I wanted to see, but I was well aware of that. The Cerberus crew that helped me take down the Collectors was far from xenophobic, even less so then some of my former crew of the SR1, but it was just a way of making me comfortable and cooperative and it was not a gesture of good will. And as soon as the mission was over I left and took the ship and crew with me, well at least those who didn't want to remain with Cerberus."

"I did have some backers in the Alliance which believed in me and after a while even the Alliance responded to the attacks on human colonies, but of course by then the attacks had more or less stopped after we returned from the Omega 4 relay. I had managed to restore some of my credibility but that effort had gone to hell after Bahak." Shepard sighed, "It was the simplest decision I ever faced, but it was the hardest to make. I decided that the consequences of inaction were so horrific that it was not even an option. 300 000 people paid the price, but those batarians gave us-"

Shepard trailed off and tried to put together the timeline and came to the conclusion that he destroyed the relay about two months before he turned himself in and continued.

"-I think eight months of peace and preparation before the Reapers attacked Earth. Most governments did prepare, it turned out Bahak was too much for everyone to ignore. Whether they were doing so for the Reaper war or tension between humans and batarians is irrelevant. Looking back, despite the pace, we prepared more in those last 8 months than in the whole three years after the battle of the Citadel. I wish there had been another alternative to destroying the relay, but there wasn't, time was running out and the Reapers were minutes from entering the system. And it wouldn't surprise me if there were Reapers destroyed in that powerful blast. It could very well have been our first tactical victory against the Reapers."

There was a quiet murmur going through the ranks as the crew had listened to Shepard's words as he laid everything out. Or at least to a certain extent, Shepard had omitted certain facts, mostly private. And even though the crew had a certain clearance level considering they worked on the Normandy with a SPECTRE, some information was above top secret. Besides most of the assembled were enlisted, NCOs or low-ranking officers and no one besides himself were Special Operations. A lot of lines was blurred in the war and suffice to say the current crew had been part of the retrofit and wasn't necessarily a crew which would have been stationed on the Normandy under proper procedures and protocols. And secrecy was still the greatest weapon in the war.

"Questions?" Shepard asked finally.

One of the Privates in the front raised his arm a bit - his named had escaped Shepard who didn't really know everyone by name.

"Private?"

Dieter cleared his throat, "I'm...how do you use an asteroid to destroy a relay sir? Doesn't that require a lot work? I mean even strapping boosters onto an asteroid takes some time."

Shepard nodded, "It does take time."

Shepard thought back to Bahak and the briefing packet he had received by Hackett before the mission. Scientists were doing work on relays regarding their age and Kenson specifically had found out that the relays pre-dated the protheans. There had also leaked information about the mission after his incarceration and despite the fact that most of those rumors had been true, the Alliance's stance was not to comment on rumors. He decided that enough had been leaked that he could fill in the blanks.

"After I turned myself in there were a lot of rumors and a lot of it was actually true. Dr. Kenson led an expedition to Bahak in search for Reaper artifacts and set up a base on the asteroid and found evidence of an imminent Reaper invasion. For starters it wasn't a sanctioned Alliance op but when Kenson was taken into custody on terrorism charges by the batarians - the scientist team had prepared the asteroid with engines to guide it into the relay - it didn't look very good for the Alliance. And what better way was there for the Alliance to resolve the situation then to send a former SPECTRE associated with Cerberus?" Shepard snorted, "Deniability at its finest, but the prospect of evidence on a Reaper invasion was too much to for me to ignore the request."

The young private gasped, "Holy shit sir, so all that was true?"

His reaction was echoed quietly amongst crew members assembled. Except those of his friends who already knew.

Shepard nodded, "It wasn't even my plan to destroy the relay to begin with, it was Kenson's. The Reaper artifact was sending out pulses and was counting down to the Reapers arriving. It was quite the news to take in, but it wasn't the end of it. At some point when Dr. Kenson was talking about the artifact I knew I heard it before and alarm bells begun to faintly ring in my head, and they boomed when I saw the artifact. The crew had been exposed to its effects for probably weeks and were showing the tell-tale signs of indoctrination, but all I could do in the middle of the base was keep up pretenses. The operation to destroy the relay must have been months into making and suddenly it seemed no one on that station wanted to go through with the plan… the Reapers would not be stopped… It was a trap. The station was not heavily guarded and they were not front line troops, but I was soon overwhelmed."

Shepard looked downcast. The realization Kenson was indoctrinated made his skin crawl, and when he was losing conciseness he was sure it was the end.

He sighed, "I woke up only a couple of hours away from the deadline; they apparently wanted me alive… it's complicated… but I managed to break free. Kenson wanted the Reapers to succeed and I couldn't allow that." He stayed silent for a moment, before he continued. "The price was high, and some would say it was too high." He sighed again, "but the sad truth is it was probably the best we are going to get in this war."

Miranda observed Shepard from the corner of her eye and she could see that recalling the events from Bahak was hard for him. She knew because after what happened he disappeared into in his quarters. All the fear that she felt during his disappearance made her feel anger and indignation instead when he wanted to hide from her, but he relented. She shouted at him for being reckless and a bastard, but he just stared into space, and as she ran out of steam and all she wanted was reassure herself that he was alive and find out what was wrong.

He told her what happened that day but he was trying to make it brief, avoid details. And nevertheless she was shocked by what she heard, by what John did and how close the Reapers had been. She didn't need the details to understand how what happened had affected him, and she realized why he wanted to hide from the world, and hide from her fearing rejection, and she felt guilty for her outburst. Never in her life did she feel such compassion for someone and such overwhelming need to comfort. And he avoided the subject like fire and she knew how it felt to simply not want to discuss some topics and gave him some space. The bastard still didn't know he was about to decide to turn himself in and leave her for six months. She could see that it all still bothered him even with the time that had passed, and she intended to try to talk about it and help him deal with it.

Shepard continued and allowed a bit of anger to seep into his voice, "It was not some Cerberus plot to cause war between Earth and the batarians nor was it some scheme for me to revenge Elysium." Shepard paused for a few moments before he continued annoyed, "I want to end this with the final matter so adamantly pressed on by the nosiest of crew," Shepard subtly locked his eyes on the war room guards in the middle of second row who tried to ignore his gaze. He then turned his eyes over the assembled crowd, "Your mission is to keep the Normandy combat ready, and by all accounts that was achieved yesterday," Shepard allowed himself to praise.

And it was true. The Normandy and its crew, especially those in the CIC and engineering, had performed remarkably well during the onslaught of the Reapers.

Shepard said commanding, "My mission is to complete the task set forth by Alliance Command, and I'll do that in any fashion I want, recruiting and bringing onboard whoever I so desire. I have worked with these people in the past, people I trust implicitly. And regardless of my...personal association, private matters are none of your concern. But when I first came onboard the SR2 I wasn't sure I actually could trust the Cerberus crew, but in the end I did because they showed me that I could. It was a long process riddled with conflicts of interest but in the end I trusted my instincts. One of those is by me the appointed XO next to me, and suffice to say she wouldn't be here if I wasn't certain of her loyalty."

Shepard tilted his head to his left, "The same would go to our illustrious mercenary. I trust him. I work with those I trust regardless of past association, and I work with the best because I need the best to accomplish me mission."

Zaeed chuckled and discarded the apple he had finished in a trash bin nearby. He did away with the knife in a pocket.

Shepard asserted bothered, "And I did say once that I had a open-door policy regarding both Miranda's and mine's association with Cerberus, but now I'm unsure if anyone of the crew is entitled that policy considering the insinuations about her history with the organization as well as the insinuations regarding our private life. She has undertaken several missions with us dealing significant blows to Cerberus operations on Omega, Sur'Kesh and Tuchanka. She or anyone else not associated with the Alliance is not a threat to our mission. Some people should think before they vent their ridiculous theories."

Shepard leaned his back on the counter behind him, crossing his arms over his chest and barked, "Understood?"

The assembled crew called out in unison, "Yes sir!"

"Dismissed," Shepard drawled annoyed.

The crew snapped to attention and saluted as they turned to leave the mess hall. The day shift would return to their stations while the night shift headed back to their bunks for some sleep before they would get ready to man the ship.

Shepard called out sternly, "Privates Westmoreland and Campbell. Stay."

The two war room guards stopped in their tracks and hesitantly headed back whilst the rest departed. Westmoreland and Campbell stopped a few short meters in front of Shepard, standing at attention.

Shepard turned to his assembled team, "Guys, leave."

Garrus quipped as he rose from the steps, "Come on Shep, I wanted to see this."

"Not now." Shepard answered evenly.

The others left, sans Miranda who remained near Shepard.

Shepard waited patiently as the sound of people slowly diminished as they headed for either their respective quarters on the deck or entered the lift out in the hallway.

Shepard took a step forward and glared at Westmoreland. According the few minutes of audio recordings he had quickly listened into he gathered that she appeared to be the 'leader' while Campbell more or less followed her.

Shepard voice was harsh but he remained calm, "Westmoreland. How many years have you served?"

Slightly hesitantly she answered, "Eh...one year, sir."

Shepard turned his cold gaze to Campbell but said nothing and waited for an answer.

"A- about the same, sir," Campbell stammered.

"Right, you both signed up for an eight year contract right? Hoping for a career?"

"Yes sir." Both Privates answered.

Shepard turned his gaze to Westmoreland, "Familiar with Article 89 in the Alliance Uniform Code of Law?"

"No sir," Westmoreland answered in an attempt to appear stoic but she failed miserably, wanting to avert her eyes from Shepard's piercing gaze.

"That's the chapter outlining 'disrespect towards a superior commissioned officer'. A violation punishable by court-martial. I don't know what they taught either of you in boot camp but even you have to understand why there's a chain of command and that you don't undermine it. You two are in trouble now Private."

"Sir, I-" Westmoreland began before abruptly cut off by Shepard.

"Let's have EDI play some of your greatest hits, shall we?" Shepard said sardonically. "EDI, play a selection."

Through the intercom EDI played a recording were both Campbell's and Westmoreland's voices was heard booming through the mess hall. Both Privates appeared ashamed and stunned by hearing their voices crystal clear, incriminating them further.

Shepard said sarcastically, his voice laced with resent, "I liked that last part comparing me to a CAT6 washout. Even better is the one where Miranda here is manipulating me and being part of Cerberus and is a whore." He glanced at Miranda and said professionally, "Anything you want to add Ms. Lawson?"

Miranda had been quiet for the entire address to the crew, she had decided that despite the status she had onboard the ship imposed by John she wouldn't interfere. He was after all an Alliance officer, and SPECTRE, and thus had the authority to reprimand which she actually lacked.

Miranda spoke coldly, mustering the Ice Queen persona, "I'm not some honeypot whore manipulating the Commander. Nor is this man a war criminal, and with all the sacrifices he's made to protect the galaxy you should show respect. How dare either of you two accuse him of anything like that?"

Shepard turned to face the Privates and spoke commanding, "The way you conducted yourself is not worthy of the uniform. I gave you a way to voice your concerns, but instead you decided to badmouth your CO and XO behind their backs in the most reprehensive manner possible and spread distrust among the crew and perhaps even impair morale. Defying your superior and questioning the judgment of the Alliance brass. I understand your concerns and some of them were valid, but there is a proper and constructive way to voice them that doesn't undermine the mission. I may write off your behavior as stress related to the war, but that doesn't mean there won't be consequences. The maximum punishment is a bad-conduct discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances and confinement for 1 year. Whether or not you would receive that punishment is up to a court. Now, we're in a war against machines hell-bent on destroying our civilization and I've far more important things to worry about than you two, and probably so does the Alliance. I will write a conduct-report on you two and I expect you two to carry out your assignments until further notice."

"Yes sir!" Both Privates acknowledged.

"Dismissed," Shepard ordered.

Both Privates saluted before they quickly left the mess hall.

Shepard felt absolutely wretched. He didn't want to have to explain himself and for his crew judge him because of Bahak. He was well aware of how it looked, he saw their shaken fate in him and felt all of their eyes bore into him as he spoke.

But he held his composure and other than a few minor slips he was the commanding, confident, cunning leader that everyone expected him to be. He could plainly see his speech had an impact, but it didn't feel much better because he was able to bully people, using his authority into believing him, when he had doubts himself.

Miranda cursed under her breath and Shepard turned to her.

"Yes Miri?"

She turned to him, "You'll let them remain at their post?"

Shepard shrugged, "We don't have the facilities to incarcerate them or relieve them of their duty. And standing guard for 12 hours a day aren't that fun. I've done my share of that as a regular grunt."

"What will happen to them?"

Shepard spoke quietly, "I will write a conduct-report and when we have returned to the Citadel I'll have transfer papers drawn up and have them kicked of the ship. I will send a report with the recordings to the regional Alliance commander on the Citadel. What he will do with them is up to him considering the war, but this will not look good and their behavior will not garner any good-will. We can't have people onboard who are so vehemently opposed to the CO, they have done enough damage and I don't want to give them the opportunity to do more."

"EDI should have brought this to our attention," Miranda drawled annoyed.

"EDI may record things but she doesn't scan everything. Plus I have never expressed to EDI that she should report what's going. I don't necessarily want the crew to feel they're monitored 24/7, this isn't Cerberus."

* * *

The return to their quarters had been made in relative silence. Miranda noted that since leaving the mess hall Shepard had been quiet and was clearly contemplating something. Miranda had calmed down now after the situation had been dealt with. She didn't particularly care what the crew thought of her, and in the past she had been the recipient of far harsher words. Her reaction had instead been because what had been said about _her_ John. To the rest of the crew's defense the two Private's ranting hadn't festered much according to the snippets of recordings she had heard, and she believed that Shepard's address had clarified things, but the insolence shown by the two guards had pushed her a bit. But she was glad Shepard hadn't talked about her career with Cerberus, she hadn't been particularly fond of the idea to divulge that kind of information to the crew to begin with but could understand his reasoning when he had mentioned it.

As they entered their quarters Miranda asked, "What is it John?"

Stopping at the steps leading down to the lounge and the bed Shepard turned to face her and shrugged, "It's just I haven't thought much about Bahak since...since I was interrogated I think."

Miranda walked up to him and said softly, "You know you did what you had to."

Shepard walked down the steps and sighed, "That's what people tell me." He sat down in the couch. "That's what I tell myself as well."

Miranda followed suite and took a seat next to him. She hugged him close with an arm around his shoulders and could feel how tense he was.

"And you think they're wrong? You don't believe what you told the crew?"

Shepard shook his head, "I stand by what I said and what I did. But there are a few things I didn't say which I'm unsure about." He turned to look into her eyes, "Look, I would have done the same thing again if presented with it but in the end it's not very pleasant to think how narrowly we escaped disaster. What if the Reapers had come through? We would probably have been even further down the path of destruction. Bahak was a blessing in disguise and what we gained was a priceless advantage and thankfully I was there. But it's one of those things that can never be undone and which never really leaves you."

Miranda planted a soft kiss on his lips and said sympathetic, "You're only human."

Shepard grunted skeptically, "Some people might believe I should be proud, but this honor I would have willingly given to someone else. I killed 300 000 people, it was necessary yes but I don't kill civilians indiscriminately regardless of species"

"I know you don't and you didn't."

"That's the point. I've killed a lot in my career, but never at this scale. Not collateral damage like this. The years in MARSOC were never devoid of ambiguity, but our missions were as black and white as Special Operations allow - or grey. Collateral damage was minimal and non-existent. I have always been aware of the danger of slipping and losing my humanity in this line of work, but I had my own set of rules and principles that were supposed to keep that from happening, keeping me from crossing line after line. I never had any illusions that I could always stay true to them, I knew that extreme circumstances might arise that would force me to break them, but I had never imagined anything like Bahak. My morality was pushed so far at Bahak that sometimes I'm not sure I'm the same man I was before. With the press of a button 300 000 was sentenced to death."

Miranda asked, "And how many more would have died if you hadn't done what you did?" She unbuttoned a couple of buttons on his shirt and slipped her free hand underneath the fabric and caressed his torso lightly. Shepard didn't resist.

Shepard murmured, "Perhaps. I think it is bizarre writing an order and be able to feel detached from its consequences. But I condemned and killed without a second thought because it needed to be done. How can one claim to have a conscience and live knowing that so many are dead because of your actions? All the ways to try and make it sound right fall flat, it often seems arbitrary. The difference between a hero and a monster is who gets to judge."

Miranda implored, "You had everyone's best interests at heart. You didn't do this yourself."

Shepard snorted, "So I wanted well? One can't just say that and think that everything's okay. It's just excuses of a man with a guilty conscience. The principles I have were supposed to set me apart from my fallibility. And all that was thrown away in one instant. I've done some terrible things, but I didn't much care because on the receiving end were criminals, slavers and terrorists. Now all that's left are blurry lines and a game of numbers and probabilities."

"And maybe that's how it always been. You still have plenty of principles."

"Just not the ones that matters."

Miranda said softly, "You only broke yours because the circumstances were extreme. Those small distinctions make all the difference in the world."

"Maybe...I knew that there was a disturbingly fine line between good and evil. I always believed that the seemingly small details are what matters. And I accepted that because it was how it was and nothing could be done about it. I believed I managed to stay far away from the edge and from those who had no regard of what the consequences of their actions would cause. Now I'm not so sure anymore." Shepard sighed disheartened, "Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."

Miranda exclaimed concerned, "How can you even think that?"

Since Miranda left Cerberus she had been swarmed by doubts about many things that she had done, which she told herself was for the greater good of humanity. What had really happened when her results, reports or findings had been received by the Illusive Man? She didn't know. During her years with Cerberus she had firmly believed that the means justified the end. She was against any pointless cruelty, but under the right circumstances nothing was of the table. And she prided herself on the fact her judgment was not clouded by things like sentimentality, but instead she adhered to numbers and facts. Sometime suffering needed to be inflicted to avoid more suffering, and in the past things were very black and white that way for her.

But things became more and more foggy, and when John entered her life that point of view she had held in the past was shattered with her disillusionment with Cerberus. She sometimes despised John for showing her what Cerberus truly was, and was waiting till he finally would say to her _'I told you so'_. But instead all she was getting was understanding, and when they were alone and he let his mask slip he comforted her.

Miranda never liked taking comfort. As a child she was dependent on her father and all it amounted to was hurt and nightmares that even still managed attack her in her sleep and make her feel weak, hopeless and fill her with terror. And as soon as she knew better she ran and learned to rely on herself. And since she got out from her father's grasp no one had managed to hurt her or make her feel hopeless like during her youth.

She could confess that she hadn't necessarily been happy in the past, but she was okay and took joy and pride in her work and the thrill of discovery and being part of something bigger, and most of the time that was enough. Taking comfort, especially to cope with failure, only made her think how right her father had been. Until recently she didn't have anywhere to turn, and the strong feelings she had for John, which she had been afraid to voice, now made her eager to fully embrace their relationship. It had taken a long time for her to finally admit it to him, and until recently she hadn't even admitted it fully to herself, but he had become her life boat not only saving her from the fallout from leaving Cerberus, but also more importantly on emotional terms. He helped her stay afloat when she felt her place in the world - and also what she felt made her significant - was put into question

She maintained the core of her beliefs, but she couldn't forgive herself in her hubris. She also had a certain vision of herself, and she needed to believe that what she did was for the right reasons.

When during Lazarus Miranda had went through Shepard's record she saw a man that was narrow-minded and limited by his beliefs. Her failure and Shepard's influence made her realize the value of principles, not because of inherent evil of some acts, but because how hard it was to judge. She acknowledged the capacity for error and the limitation of knowledge. And Shepard knew that all along.

She had no doubt he was a better human-being than she was, evident in how he treated others, and how seriously he treated morality. His doubts in himself only magnified her own.

Shepard snapped, "How can you be so nonchalant about such destruction and death?" He was getting angry with Miranda's attitude.

"You know that's not true," Miranda said calmly.

"Do you even know what happened?!"

Miranda exclaimed, "Because you told me!"

"And you just believe that?!"

"Because I know you."

Shepard sighed, "Just stop."

There was a lengthy pause between them as Shepard composed himself and calmed down.

"You are not helping when I feel you are not treating the matter seriously," Shepard said dejected. "I know all the things you said, it's just not enough right now."

Miranda had no illusions about her comforting skills, but it still stung to hear it from one of the few people she ever tried to comfort, and the only man she allowed herself to be vulnerable with. But she didn't remove herself from him, still holding him close.

Shepard murmured, "I don't think I could have made a different choice, and sometimes it's enough… sometimes it feels like it's a testament to how far I'm gone. This...constant uncertainty and doubt are so exhausting and it's overwhelming to even think that by your own measure you are a vicious bastard that decided to play god with the lives of 300 000 people. All of them ripped into stardust because of your action, and realizing that there is no excuse for them. Having that many lives on your conscience is such a burden… it's difficult to accept that there are no certainties that I will be absolved or condemned by contemporaries or even historians. I know the liberal media made up their minds when I was incarcerated."

"Don't listen to them, they don't understand," Miranda spat remembering what media outlets had said during the year. "They only want a story, and what better story is there a fallen hero then a real hero?"

"That's a little comfort to me. And nobody asks to be a hero; it just sometimes turns out that way. Of course the opposite can be true to as well."

Miranda was dejected by how she was shot down, but she hadn't given up yet. She could see that Shepard was in a bad state so she gathered her thoughts and spoke softly looking into his piercing blue eyes.

"It's what you do that makes a difference, John. You created a set of principles because you didn't believe you can make some decisions, because you didn't want to go too far, and it is the same strong sense of morality that made you break them in Bahak. Because according to all the evidence you had, sacrificing all those things was the right thing to do. You chose them because you acknowledged your fallibility. Maybe you should also acknowledge that you might have been wrong, that expecting those rules to be foolproof was unreasonable."

Miranda smiled, "You taught me the value of principles. I never believed I had any, and when I heard the term I scoffed seeing narrow minded cowards who were unable to make the hard choices. Any restraint on what I could or could not do was a foolish disadvantage. Everything was a choice based on the circumstances. I believed the Illusive Man had principles. He was supposed to be doing everything in humanity's best interest."

She shook her head, "But he didn't have principles. Not really. Maybe he had once, I don't presume to know what he believed, but after what I've seen what he has done it's hard to see that he acknowledged anything he wouldn't consider. What he instead had was a goal, and a goal that he would do anything to achieve. He seems to have possessed a sound judgment for some time, but he was corruptible and he has been corrupted. You were met with extreme circumstances and you acted best you could under the circumstances. You went against yourself because of what was at stake."

Miranda cupped his face and planted a soft kiss on his lips and said after she broke it, "Your own moral principles that you broke only show how uniquely capable you are of doing what's necessary. There is no other man then you I would ever entrust making such a decision. And there is nothing I'm sure of more than the fact you did what you believed was right, and I'm not sure of many things anymore. I'm not sure that what I used to do was even remotely the right thing and all because of hubris. I refuse to believe that the Cerberus I joined was the Cerberus of Pragia and Akuze, but sometimes it feels like I'm making excuses."

Shepard weakly smiled, "I'm sorry. Despite what I said, you have no idea how much what you say and your support means to me. You can't start questioning everything. The past is the past, and as little as I know about it I know for a fact you did some great work that saved many lives. What matters now is you firmly believed you were doing the right thing and you made a real meaningful change." Shepard's smile got stronger, "You aren't bad at all being convincing Miri."

Miranda smiled, "Well, I have learned a thing or two from you."

She straddled him and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply as he snaked his arms around her waist. She could feel Shepard relaxing in her arms as he pressed her body closer to his. He just needed someone to vent to. They moaned lightly in unison before they broke their kissing.

Miranda smiled wide on his lips and looked into his eyes. She planted a soft kiss and pulled away a bit, "Better?"

Shepard nodded with a grin, "Yes. Even the stoic Commander Shepard needs to get some things of his chest it seems."

"Of course, considering all the times you've been there for me so I'm here for you now. We're a team after all."

* * *

**_Quote, Black Hawk Down._**

**_To those who believed this would be Grissom Academy, sorry. But no worry, Jack is just around the corner and will be with us shortly :)_**

**_MARSOC; I've taken some creative liberties regarding the Alliance's Special Operations community and based it on United States Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC). MARSOC in-story would be Alliance Marine Forces Special Operations Command. Not that it will make any significant changes to the story beyond Shepard's back story I've conjured up._**

**_MIA: Missing in Action._**

**_"Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche._**

**_Co-developed with xXserialkillerXx._**

**_Article 89 in the Alliance Uniform Code of Law is based on the actual Article 89 in the Uniform Code of Military Justice for the US Armed Forces._**

**_Edited 2013-05-09: Random changes throughout, both grammatical and otherwise._**


	37. Grissom Academy

After a long transit from Tuchanka, the Normandy was about to drop out FTL. Shepard's team was assembling in the cargo bay and Cortez was preparing the Kodiak for flight. Shepard himself was passing through the war room as the Normandy had received an emergency call from Councilor Esheel of all people. Shepard wasn't in mood being berated by the salarian Councilor because of curing the genophage but had begrudgingly agreed to take the call before the mission.

Shepard stepped up to the communications console and accepted the call, the holographic figure of the ageing Councilor was quickly processed.

_"Commander Shepard. I'm grateful that you answered my call,"_ Esheel greeted evenly.

"Hmm, yes. We're about to embark on a mission so we have to do this fast," Shepard informed

Esheel sighed, _"The salarian government's stance is well known and now I find myself in a galaxy where the krogan is cured from the genophage. Neither the Dalatrass or myself are exactly happy about what happened there, re-writing history and all."_

Shepard suppressed a snort, "Must be nice being isolationistic while turians and humans are dying in the war. And as much as I love being second guessed by the Council I've other things to attend to then discussing what happened on Tuchanka right now."

Esheel continued annoyed, _"Commander, I'll make it clear; my position here on the Council is thanks to you and it's not something I take lightly. Without your actions over three years ago the weak-minded Valern would have been in my place instead, leading the salarians down the sewage-pipe. The genophage cure is like saying we need a hurricane to put out a wildfire."_

Shepard pressed strongly, "It's not a wildfire Councilor; it's the genocide of our civilizations. That is what you should tell your people."

_"It's a short term solution Commander...but a short term is maybe all we have. Has a ring to it,"_ Esheel pondered before she continued evenly getting things back on track. _"Commander, the genophage situation is not only the reason I'm calling Commander. We've had some...revelations on the Citadel, and it's something I'd like to discuss with you face to face. You have a mission you say? You don't happen to know when you'll be back on the Citadel?"_

"I had planned to return in a couple of days at the most, we need to do some re-stocking among other things."

_"If you could come see me in my private chambers in a few days I would appreciate it. This is something I rather discuss in person."_

Shepard nodded, "Alright Councilor, I'll be in touch soon."

Esheel nodded, _"Thank you Commander."_

Esheel reached for the communications console on her end and the call was terminated.

_I wonder what they want now,_ Shepard thought. _It sounded important._

Shepard's thoughts were cut short when Joker's voice was heard over the intercom, _"Commander. We're in range now and I've found the ones that sent the distress signal. A dozen fighters and a nice little Cerberus cruiser on blockade duty. A head-on attack could be a little too much for us, the fighters could swarm us. They really want this place bad."_

EDI chimed in, _"Receiving incoming transmission. Patching through."_

A distressed female voice was heard, _"SSV Normandy, this is Kahlee Sanders, director of Grissom Academy. We are in need of immediate assistance. Cerberus is attacking the facility and they're after my students."_

_Sanders? Didn't Liara once say Anderson had worked with one with that name?_

Shepard shook away those thoughts, "Grissom Academy, this is Commander Shepard. There's a cruiser and fighters between us and the station."

_"I know. They're in control of our docking bays. But there's an auxiliary cargo port I could probably open. I don't know any other way in."_

Shepard darted out of the comm room and rushed through the war room, "Alright, we're coming in with a shuttle to extract you and your students."

_"Thank you Commander."_

Shepard cut through the conference room, "Joker, when we've cleared the Normandy, give us a distraction."

Shepard heard Joker's jovial voice, _"Ha, you bet Commander! I'll give them a run for their money."_

* * *

The cargo bay on the Normandy opened and the Kodiak shuttle slid out and the Normandy accelerated away. Turning to its right, the Normandy pulled an inverted roll downwards towards Grissom Academy kilometers below them. The Jon Grissom Academy resembled a dagger but past it's "hilt" there was a wing on each side and in the middle a spherical construction which connected with the rest of the station and the kilometer long station was also adorned with a tall tower with a communications antenna on top of it.

The Normandy fired its thrusters and descended rapidly with its tail first and sped through the formation of fighters near the cruiser. Joker disengaged the stealth system and rolled the warship around and pushed forward on its nose as the Cerberus interceptors and the cruiser pursued the invading warship. The attacking Cerberus vessels fired their mass accelerated cannons while Joker turned and jinked hard to avoid the incoming fire. Dozens of kilometers away from the station the Normandy accelerated to FTL and was gone; the Cerberus task force used their scanners to hunt and waited for the Normandy if it would drop out of FTL.

Clear of the enemy ships and interceptors, Cortez steered the Kodiak towards the auxiliary cargo port on the station.

Inside the shuttle Shepard's team was seated and readied themselves for combat. They were basically going in blind and that was not to Shepard's liking. They had no intel on the enemy composition beyond what the Grissom Academy director had told him earlier. After that Sanders had cut communications as she was hunted by Cerberus troopers and needed to hide.

Their first order of business was undoubtedly to secure Sanders so she could brief them on the situation.

In his seat Shepard did a final check on his rifle and turned to the assembled team, "Watch what you shoot at, there are civilians here. Understood?"

A plethora of positives was shot back as the team readied themselves.

Shepard gave his team an approving nod and rose from his seat; he had forgone his helmet this time and instead relied on his shields, as did the others on the team as well. Shepard walked up to the cockpit and stopped behind Cortez.

"Steve, we'll be back as soon as possible. Keep the shuttle by the cargo port and wait for us."

"You got it Commander," Cortez answered. "We're docking now."

"Good," Shepard replied and turned around to the passenger compartment as the others rose from their seats with their weapons ready.

Cortez flew the Kodiak through the barrier curtain into the small cargo port and steadied the shuttle at an auxiliary docking station. The shuttle door opened and Shepard's team dashed out and secured the small cargo port as Cortez closed the shuttle door. In front of them there was an airlock leading further into the station.

Shepard walked up to the airlock and swiped his hand over the interface and they proceeded through the small chamber and through another door into a hallway with a door at the far end of it.

Shepard radioed Sanders, "Kahlee, this is Shepard. We're inside now. Where are you?"

Sanders were under a lot more stress than earlier and spoke rapidly, _"Commander, I locked myself inside a server room past the corridor near the cargo port. A Cerberus squad is right outside trying to get in!"_

"We're on our way," Shepard reassured her and ran down the hallway with his team, "Stay put."

_"Yes Commander."_

"Stack up!" Shepard ordered as he slid up next to the door with Liara and Zaeed right next to him and on the opposite side of the door the others stopped with Garrus on point. Shepard spoke rapidly, "Garrus, when the doors open flash the corridor."

"You got it," Garrus responded and reached for a flashbang grenade from one of his pouches.

Shepard glanced at his team, "Ready?"

"Let's fuck shit up," Vega spoke enthusiastically behind Garrus.

* * *

_"Get ready, I've almost got the door!"_ One of the troopers in the corridor shouted.

Lieutenant Kahlee Sanders had darted behind a sturdy workstation in the middle of the server room. Earlier she had been able to break cover and find her way down to the server room so she could open the auxiliary port for the Normandy shuttle. She had a Cerberus squad after her the whole time but managed to evade them but someone somewhere probably noticed the computer activity coming from the server room and now the troopers was right outside in the hallway. They had managed to pry open the door with a shaped charge but it had thankfully not been able to open the door completely.

She and her students had been fighting the Cerberus invaders since they attacked the day before, it had been relentless. Thankfully she had an extensive knowledge of the computer systems and had been able to slow down the Cerberus attack, locking doors and even entire sections of the station until Cerberus unfortunately had managed to circumvent her attempts. And since then the Grissom Academy survivors had been on the defensive, running for their lives. Cerberus had even managed to shut down station-wide communications, it was something Sanders was trying to fix so she could get in contact with her students.

The troopers on the other side of the door had taken potshots at her through the gap after the door had been damaged by the explosion but they hadn't been able to hit her. She glanced at her Scimitar shotgun, it was fully charged but she had no other thermal clip except the one it was loaded with.

_Thank God for the Normandy! Hopefully Shepard-_

Beyond the door she heard the frantic voice of a trooper, _"Contact!"_

A loud bang was heard outside and the troopers screamed in pain and then she heard short bursts of gunfire.

Sanders peered out above the workstation and looked out through one of the two large windows and saw a six man team of several humans, an asari and a turian rush through the hallway with weapons at the ready.

She heard an American male voice call out, "Clear!"

Which was soon followed by an Australian female voice, "Clear!"

Through the gap of the two door halves a man in black armor and the unmistaken N7 logo on his chest-piece walked up the door. If the N7 logo hadn't been enough she quickly recognized the face.

"Kahlee? It's Shepard, all hostiles are down, and we're in the clear."

Sanders rose from behind the workstation and darted over to a computer on a table near the window and with the press of a few buttons the damaged door slid open.

Shepard walked in followed by a dark haired woman as the rest of his squad remained in the hallway and covered them.

Sanders turned to Shepard and smiled gratefully and took a deep breath to calm down, "Thank you Commander. Admiral Anderson always said you were the best." She grimaced sadly, "Cerberus is capturing my students and I need your help."

"How many of you are there?"

"We're under twenty. Sadly all the remaining guards and all but one teacher were killed in the initial attack. There is only we left as everyone else had left shortly after the Reapers attacked Earth. We had volunteered to stay behind as we were testing new prototype tech for the Alliance."

The Australian chimed in bleakly, "That's going to cut it close to get everyone into the shuttle with the six of us as well."

Shepard nodded, "Yeah, but let's worry about the finding students first."

"Understood."

"You knew Anderson right?" Shepard asked.

Sanders nodded, "Yes. We've known each other for…twenty years now. He was a SPECTRE candidate. I was there when Saren betrayed him and he saved my life that day. He's a good man." She sighed, "I haven't heard much from David in a couple of months. And that was before the war."

"Last I heard he was on Earth. London to be precise, leading the resistance." Shepard answered.

"He is? We've been cut off from most news lately." She chuckled cheerlessly, "Most of Alliance Space is in a mess since the Reapers invaded, planets and systems are on their own. Is he alright?"

Shepard spoke glum, "The Alliance hasn't had much contact with northern Europe." But he smiled reassuringly, "I'm sure he is fine, Anderson can take care of himself. He is tough."

Sanders smiled weak, "He is. He is very resourceful."

She hoped they would get out the station, and that she would at least be able to speak to David at least one more time. Before this mess they even had plans together. That apartment on the Silversun Strip was one of them. That felt so long ago.

Sanders snapped back to reality and pulled up a chair and sat down at the computer and turned to Shepard, "Most students here are biotis training for military operations. Working together to use their skills as biotic artillery."

"Going up against crash dummies won't prepare them for the realities of war," Shepard said evenly.

Sanders nodded, "I agree. But with the war going on we've been busy for quite some time. The Alliance needs any resources they can find to throw at the Reapers. And our students...are those resources." She sighed, "Plus, the Alliance asked us for help and how could we turn them down with the Reapers already here?"

The sudden and rapidly beeping coming from the console in front of her drew away everyone's attention.

Sanders snapped her head and her hands quickly found themselves to the holographic keyboard.

_Finally! My automatic hacking program is finished!_

She explained quickly as she was typing feverishly on the keyboard, "Cerberus took control of all the communications channels during the attack. I've been trying to get it working again."

The beeping stopped and an alarmed young male voice was heard over the intercom, _"Ms. Sanders? This is Froeberg, we're in the Orion Hall and Cerberus has us boxed in! We're trying to-"_

The communication was cut off.

Sanders snarled, "Damn it!"

"Orion Hall?" Shepard asked.

Sanders turned to him, "Head out through the hallway and the door on the right. I'll get it open. Then just follow the directions. It's not very far."

"Okay, we'll head there. You got our radio channel, keep in contact. We'll get your students out of there and we'll double back here and head for our shuttle."

Sanders said thankfully, "Thank you Commander - all of you. I'll stay put and try and get at least some of our systems back and running, I might be able to at least warn you of incoming enemies."

Shepard and the woman darted out and Shepard shouted back, "Lock that door behind you when we've left!"

"I will Commander!"

Sanders turned to the computer again and began typing on the keyboard and opened the door in the hallway. Outside Shepard rapidly explained the situation and the team soon ran off through the door. As the last member of Shepard's team disappeared from the hallway she locked the door. Hopefully that door would hold of any potential Cerberus squads as the damaged door to the server room would probably not be enough.

* * *

Shepard led the team through the doorway into a spacious corridor with large windows giving them a view of a hallway outside. According to a big sign outside they had apparently entered the 'Ascension Wing', the part of the station which housed the Ascension Project.

But what was happening on the other side of the large window made Shepard's guts wrench in dread and he stopped in his tracks, as did the others. They saw a Cerberus squad of three walking through the hallway with one of the trooper's dragging a helpless male student by one of his legs, the two troopers was trailed by an engineer preoccupied with his omni-tool. Shepard and the others could hear the muffled cries of despair from the teenager as he was trashing around with his free arms and body in a futile attempt to stop being dragged away.

"Fuck! They got a kid!" Zaeed snarled behind Shepard.

"Goddess," Liara mumbled sorrowfully.

Sadly Shepard knew they couldn't do anything to help the teenager; the thick reinforced glass was nigh impenetrable, and shooting at the glass wall would only draw the attention of the Cerberus squad.

"We're not going to do anything?" Vega spat disgusted as Shepard hadn't done anything.

Shepard turned and said dejected in seeing a teenager being hauled away, "There's nothing we can do James. That glass is reinforced and we can't shoot through it. It's designed to seal in areas in case of emergency if the atmosphere is vented."

"Son of a-"

"Let's move and see that they don't haul away anyone else," Shepard ordered.

The Cerberus squad didn't take notice of Shepard's team as they exited the hallway through a door on the opposite side of the hallway.

Shepard noted a sign on the wall nearby with directions throughout the Ascension Wing and followed the arrow which pointed to the right. He led the others through the corridor past a door as they darted forward through a long hallway.

In the wing's loud speakers they heard a voice broadcasting evenly, _"Attention all students. Cerberus troops have taken control of this station. We've no intention to hurt you. Surrender and you will not be harmed." _The speaker ended with an ominous warning_, "Resist, and we can't guarantee your safety."_

"Those bastards," Miranda snarled.

Shepard opened the door on the other end of the hallway which led into a large lobby of 'crossroads' leading to other areas of the wing. The area was riddled with tables, cabinets and couches piled on top of each other at the doors to try and slow down the Cerberus troops invading the station.

Shepard's attention was suddenly drawn to the voice module of a Cerberus trooper shouting an order.

_"Reiley Bellarmine, drop that barrier now!"_

Shepard gestured with a hand signal for the others to stop and stay quiet. His eyes was quickly drawn to the blue shimmer of an biotic barrier bubble and two troopers standing in front of a male student holding it up in a hallway, the Cerberus troops had their backs to Shepard's team and hadn't noticed them.

The other Cerberus trooper spoke, trying to persuade the student to surrender, _"No one's going to hurt you. Our file says we need you alive."_ The trooper chuckled foreboding, _"But your sister on the other hand...she's expendable."_

_"Yeah, give us trouble and we'll find her."_

Shepard called out an order under his breath, "Garrus take the guy on the right on my command."

Shepard gestured for the others to stay behind and for Garrus to follow him quietly. Thankfully the Cerberus commander broadcasting orders and the troops attention elsewhere made the team's entry into the hall unnoticed as Shepard and Garrus moved for a better line of sight.

The Cerberus commander continued talking over the intercom, _"We understand that you are scared. Your teachers have filled your heads with Alliance propaganda."_

Shepard and Garrus snuck through the hall and stopped less than ten meters behind the troopers. Shepard raised his rifle and opened fire at the trooper on his left and Garrus quickly raised his rifle on Shepard's 'command' and killed his target with a burst. The take down was clean and precise.

The voice on the intercom continued, _"But Cerberus can keep you safe, we're the only ones who can."_

"Clear!" Shepard turned to the others behind him and ordered, "Fan out and secure the hall!"

The rest of the team fanned out as Shepard and Garrus advanced towards the fallen troopers and the student. Shepard and Garrus lowered their rifles after they made sure that the troopers were dead.

The student looked up terrified and stammered, "Who…who are you?"

Shepard stopped near the teenager, "Commander Shepard, from the Alliance. We're here to get you and your friends out of here. Do you know where the server room to the auxiliary cargo port is?"

The teenager lowered his biotic barrier and nodded, "Yes."

"Good, Kahlee Sanders is there. We've cleared the area from there to here, head over there."

Reiley spoke frightened, "I was separated from my sister, and she's on the other side of the wing." He pointed past several lecture rooms at another lobby on the far side of the wing.

Shepard spoke reassuringly, "I'll try and find her. Now go."

Reiley nodded and ran away towards the door which Shepard's team had entered through.

Shepard radioed Sanders, "Lieutenant, I'm sending a kid back to you now. Reiley I think his name was."

Sanders was relieved, _"Great Commander, thank you. Sanders out."_

Shepard ordered the others, "On me, we're pushing forward."

Shepard turned to his left and gazed upon the large hall, it was composed of several lecture rooms and hallways. One such lecture room was to his left, dotted with several tables and workstation. As the team joined up with Shepard they headed over to a door and they cut through the lecture room and exited it through a door on the other side.

_"The Alliance has failed you, Earth has fallen."_ The Cerberus commander broadcasted. _"Resisting us only dishonors your family, your friends."_

"What I wouldn't do to shut him up," Vega snarled, getting annoyed at hearing the voice booming out over the wing.

They had entered another hallway and walked across it into another lecture hall.

_"You are the best and brightest humanity as to offer. Cerberus can give you the tools you need." _The Cerberus commander tried to sound pleadingly, "_You need us...and we need you if our work is to succeed."_

Shepard opened the door and walked in but suddenly heard gunshots from the other side of the large lecture room. He quickly darted back and hugged a wall near the door they came through, the others stopped as well in the now cramped doorway, keeping a low profile to remain unseen.

A Centurion snarled at one of his companions, _"Watch the headshots! Orders are to take them alive!"_

Shepard peered past the corner of the wall and saw a student lying dead on the floor on the far side of the room; he had tried to flee his pursuers. A squad of four troops entered the room.

A second trooper asked annoyed as they stopped around the dead teenager, _"Check the file! Who was it?"_

Another trooper, presumably the one that killed the student, spoke devoid of emotions, _"Honaker. Some kind of math genius. Low priority."_

The Centurion reprimanded forcefully,_ "You're lucky that wasn't a high priority target. Don't do that again!"_

_Bastards, _Shepard thought and grimaced resentfully.

Shepard turned back to his team and issued his orders under his breath, "Looks like four, I'll provide cover fire; Garrus, Miranda head over to the second row of workstations on the far side of the room from our position. The rest of you, push through to the middle of the room as we provide cover fire. Understood?"

The team nodded in agreement.

Shepard looked at Garrus and Miranda, "Ready?"

"Yes." - "Let's do this."

Shepard nodded and leaned out of cover again but this time aiming with his assault rifle down range and fired several bursts and killed one of the troopers with well placed headshots.

_"Taking fire! Engage!"_ The Centurion screamed as the surviving troops darted for cover behind workstations on their end of the room. The Centurion radioed a warning over the Cerberus radio channel, _"Cujo Actual, this is Gryphon 2-7, we're being engaged! Probable Alliance reinforcements!"_

From behind Shepard, Garrus and Miranda rushed out towards the second workstation from their position and as soon as they were behind cover they joined Shepard in firing at the direction of the enemy.

Vega was leading the others, he tapped Shepard on his shoulder with his hand and Shepard stopped firing and lowered his rifle. Vega ran past the corner with Liara and Zaeed and kept a low profile past the workstations and took up position one row of workstations ahead of the others.

Liara unleashed a singularity behind a workstation where two troopers was taking cover, the biotic energy pulled them of the floor and kept them floating in the air helplessly and they were quickly killed in the crossfire. The Centurion was soon overwhelmed by the incoming fire and a grenade hurled by Zaeed detonated behind the cover and killed him.

As the gunfire died down, the Cerberus commander's voice was heard, _"There's an Alliance team on the station now. They claim they want to help you. But all they're doing is threatening your safety." _The man implored, _"Please don't get caught in the crossfire, surrender now."_

"Oh just shut up," Shepard spat annoyed before he asked evenly, "All clear?"

"Think so," Liara said.

Vega acknowledged, "Hostiles down."

Shepard left his corner and walked past the rows of workstations and was soon joined by the others as they swept the room with their weapons. Indeed, the Cerberus squad had been defeated.

"Poor kid," Zaeed said bothered of the sight of the teenager lying dead on the floor in a pool of his own blood and brain matter. Even the gruff and battle hardened mercenary had trouble seeing non-combatants of that age killed. "He 'ad no chance."

"A small comfort is that he died quickly," Shepard said glum. "Let's move out."

The team left the lecture room and entered the lobby, very much resembling the other lobby where they rescued the student. The team fanned out and moved deliberately and cleared the hall.

The voice on the intercom broadcasted again, _"Holly Merizan, can you hear us? We found your mother and father. They're safe at a Cerberus sanctuary. Surrender and you can see them again."_

"Those fuckers, why are they takin' kids in the first place?" Zaeed snarled.

"They seem to be after biotics, probably to indoctrinate them and use them as troops," Shepard said disgusted.

Shepard stopped at a corner and heard a faint sob coming from the other side of the hall. Shepard cleared the corner and headed down the short hallway leading to another hallway running parallel and he turned around a corner and he saw a red haired teenage girl lying on the floor near a couch at the far end of the hallway, she tried to sit up and use the wall for support. Her shirt around the right shoulder was soaked in blood.

_Must be that kid's sister!_

"We have a civilian down!" Shepard shouted and rushed down the hallway.

The girl stammered frightened and was out of breath, she was clearly exhausted by the loss of blood, "Stay...back...I'll..."

Shepard slid down on his knees near her and dropped his weapon on the ground and quickly glanced at the girl's injury. She had been shot and the bullet had passed clean through her shoulder and now she was on the verge of bleeding out. Shepard reached for one of his medi-gel injectors and quickly mashed it into her wound, the girl cried out in pain as the medical salve was injected. With medi-gel she could have enough time to survive until they got back to the Normandy and Dr. Chakwas.

"I'm sorry," Shepard said softly to the young girl, "But I have to do that so I can stop the bleeding."

Miranda rushed up behind Shepard and knelt down next to him and discarded her rifle on the floor as well. She brought up her omni-tool to scan the injury. The rest of the team fanned out and covered Shepard and Miranda.

The girl sighed alleviated as the medical salve closed of the bleeding and the anesthetic began to spread through her limb.

"The medi-gel is constricting the wound," Miranda said relieved and glanced at her omni-tool.

"Good," Shepard said and threw away the injector. He didn't think he would need another one. Shepard asked, "What's your name?"

"Seanne Bellarmine,_" _she answered. She leaned on the wall and appeared in marginally better shape but she was still exhausted.

"My name's John, Seanne. What happened?"

The girl was sobbing, "Those soldiers chased me, my brother and Robert, but we got separated from Reiley. Then Robert ran off to find Reily and they shot me as they chased after Robert."

_And Robert probably was the kid who got shot in the head,_ Shepard thought dejected.

Shepard spoke softly, "Seanne. I found your brother, Reiley, on the other side of the class rooms. He's alright. I sent him to Kahlee. She's at the server room near the auxiliary cargo port."

Seanne wiped her hand over her tearful eyes and cleared her throat. She smiled weakly, "Reiley is alright?"

Shepard nodded with a smile, "Yes. Can you get to Kahlee? We've to push on to Orion Hall to get the rest of your friends."

"I just...I just need to catch my breath. Have you found Robert? I heard shooting."

Shepard decided to lie, or at least bend the truth. She was young and in her current state she would likely break down. And as callous as it was Shepard couldn't linger to comfort Seanne. They had to push on to Orion Hall.

"We didn't see anyone else alive except your brother," Shepard explained.

Seanne said hopefully, "Maybe he got to Ms. Sanders as well."

Shepard picked up his rifle and stood up, as did Miranda.

Shepard said, "Don't wait too long Seanne, head to Sanders."

She nodded, "I will sir, thank you."

Shepard smiled reassuringly and turned around with Miranda and radioed Sanders, "Kahlee, I found Reiley's sister and she'll head to you soon. She was shot in the arm but I used some medi-gel to patch up the wound."

_Sanders radioed worried, "Is she alright?"_

"She appears exhausted but is lucid."

_"I understand. Thank you once again Commander."_

Liara walked up to him and said glad, "Thank the Goddess you got to her in time John, too many young has died here."

Shepard flashed a quick smile, "Yeah." He quickly glanced at a sign on the wall with directions; Orion Hall was apparently past the doors down the hallway opposite the direction which they came from. "Alright, we've to move that direction and take a left," Shepard gestured.

Once again the Cerberus commander's voice was heard, _"We're the only hope you have of retaking Earth...and saving your parents. We would prefer your willing compliance. But this is war, and our patience is limited."_

The team retraced their steps and soon found themselves in the hallway leading to Orion Hall.

Sanders radioed, _"Commander. I just got a message from the students in Orion Hall, they have their teacher with them but Cerberus troops are pushing through and they can't hold on much longer."_

"We're on our way Kahlee, just one more corridor," Shepard informed her.

* * *

Orion Hall was a spacious lobby with couches and lounge chairs in place at the walls surrounding the lobby. In the middle of the hall was a tree planted in an elevated plant box, there was even spots of planted grass near the entrance. Several pillars dotted the hall and there was a second floor overlooking Orion Hall with two separate staircases on each side leading up to the level. Below the second floor there was a small staircase leading down to a corridor with an exit on the other side leading to the Atrium outside.

Jack had just killed two Cerberus troopers with her biotics, she had used a warp attack on one of them and sent one flying with a shockwave. The second trooper had still been alive but Jack had charged up her dark energy in one of her fists and smashed in the faceplate of his helmet, crushing the man's skull.

The satisfaction of killing Cerberus troopers made a warm tingling sensation spread through her body.

That left two others still alive. They had cut through the hall and engaged the students, but Jack had turned away from the killed troopers and rushed up to two of her students who were exposed, they had erected a biotic barrier bubble around them to deflect the incoming small arms fire.

_I won't let anyone hurt them, they're my kids._

_MINE!_

The kids were doing alright, they were certainly getting better, but their attacks were not as powerful as Jack had hoped. They were not ready for front line combat.

She rushed over to her students and quickly reinforced their barrier with a much stronger one of her own. The woman mustered a violent biotic force and knocked the two troopers into a wall behind them, and the biotic force killed them.

_Fuck yeah._

A familiar, but surprised male voice cut through the hall, "Jack?"

The voice drew Jack's attention from her two kills and she turned to the direction of the voice. She was equally as surprised when she saw a six-man armed squad led by Shepard enter the hall.

_What the fuck? Shepard? So Sanders was right..._

"Shepard?" Jack asked dumbfounded.

But their exchange was cut short when an Atlas-mech made its presence know when it squatted down to move through a doorway on the left side of the hall that was too low for it to walk through standing tall. Two squads of Cerberus troopers and Centurions followed in its wake further down the corridor.

Jack turned and cursed, _they have_ _another one? Fuck! And everything I had to go through to damage the first one._

Her students were spread out through Orion Hall and had hidden behind various covers, but one of the students was only a few meters away from the entrance and the Atlas. He quickly rushed to cover behind some crates as the troopers opened fire in his direction.

Rage, adrenaline and electric impulses spread through Jack as she quickly hurried over to the lone student and generated a biotic bubble around the two of them which deflected the incoming fire including a rocket fired from the Atlas.

The mech cleared the doorway and stood up tall, hovering above Jack whose biotic barrier now was gone. Her body flared up as she was poised to keep the Atlas away from her student who ran off to save himself.

_Shit, this is not good!_

She absentmindedly heard Shepard call out orders to his team and a barrage of small arms fire and biotics was fired at the mech and the troopers in the corridor. The pilot inside the mech turned the Atlas around towards the new threat as Shepard's team split up into two groups of three with intent to flank the mech and the infantry accompanying it.

As the Atlas was pre-occupied with Shepard's team, Jack quickly turned around and ran away.

Jack shouted to her students, and Shepard, "This is too much for you to handle! Get to the second floor! Shepard, keep them off us!"

Jack and her students ran up one of the staircases leading up to the second floor and they entered the alcove above which was stacked with workstations, computers, monitors and server farms. Jack and the students attacked the mech and the infantry which emerged through the doorway with warp attacks.

Down below, Shepard's team flanked the Atlas and the troopers and caught them in the crossfire. Several grenades exploded all around the troops, killing some and injuring others. Soon enough a screeching sound was heard and a missile guided across the hall, fired from one of Shepard's team members, and impacted the Atlas in the cockpit. The explosion shattered the protective glass and killed the pilot, the mech stumbled over and fell to the ground and detonated. That left the surviving Cerberus troopers and Centurions without mechanized support and they tried helplessly to find cover amongst the pillars but were quickly killed. The Orion Hall echoed of the last gunshots and the dying gasps of the Cerberus troopers before there was nothing but silence.

Shepard and the others assembled in the centre of the hall, sweeping the fallen troops and the Atlas one last time to make sure they had all been killed.

Jack leaned on the balcony barricade and chuckled, "Kahlee said she had put out an SOS and that an Alliance team was here led by Commander Shepard...but that the King of the Boy Scouts would be _that_ Shepard I couldn't really believe at first."

Behind her the students walked closer to gaze upon their rescuers down below.

Jack turned to her students, ten of them, and barked out orders. Tough love was her way of teaching, "Alright, amp check!" She turned to one of the male students closest to her and jabbed a finger into the air towards his face, "Prangley, those fields were weak...Cerberus isn't going to lie down out of pity like the girl you took to prom!"

Jason Prangley grimaced on being on the receiving end of their teacher's scolding as his fellow students chuckled in glee. Behind him a female student, Ensign Rodriguez, shoved his shoulder aside teasingly with a mischievous grin.

"Grab some juice and an energy bar. Be ready to move." Jack ordered.

She turned and vaulted over the balcony barricade and jumped down, her biotics flared up as she controlled the descent to the floor.

Shepard holstered his rifle and grinned as he walked over, "Fancy finding you here Jack."

Jack's body was still engulfed in the blue shimmer of her biotics. She was angry at the idiot standing in front of her and had a target already selected. She took into account all of his upgrades and summarized that the softest part of the cheek would be best spot to hit for her to avoid injuring her hand to much.

She swung her right arm and struck Shepard on the cheek with a closed fist,. Pain shot through Jack's hand despite her biotics shielding her hand.

She hissed in pain and clenched her fist, glaring at Shepard.

Shepard frowned, "Forgot my upgrades, didn't you?"

Jack heard a female voice call out in disapproval not too far away, but she didn't bother with it and instead focused on Shepard.

"Damn it Shepard!" Jack snarled. "How many times didn't I tell you not to trust Cerberus?"

Shepard shot back annoyed, "Don't you think I have told myself that already, Jack? I did what I had to. Someone had to defeat the Collectors as the Citadel and Alliance did nothing."

A scowl formed on Jacks' face and she said sardonically, "Oh yeah? Well shit, I bet that's a big comfort to all the people Cerberus have killed."

Jack noticed movement to her left as a woman in black armor walked up with a scowl on her face. Jack turned and noted who it was.

_Oh great, he's still dicking the Cerberus Cheerleader,_ Jack thought annoyed.

"What the hell are you doing Jack?" Miranda sneered.

Jack gestured dismissively, "Take it easy Cheerleader, your toy is still functioning for your daily fucking."

Miranda frowned, shooting daggers at Jack for her remark.

Shepard sighed, "Let's focus on what's important here, shall we?"

"Right," Jack said and regained her composure. She turned to Shepard, "All I care about is getting my kids out of here."

Shepard glanced up at the second floor and the balcony where the students was standing, "Your kids?"

Jack smiled and turned around to look at them proudly, "Yeah...I guess so."

"Well, I don't think you could find someone better to care for them," Shepard said friendly.

Jack turned to Shepard and shrugged, "Well, I had some free time after I left the Normandy. Some Admiral tracked me down and knew I had been part of your team and offered me this. And apparently the students respond well to my teaching style."

Prangley shouted from above, "The psychotic biotic!"

Rodriguez chimed in and clenched her fist in front of her and mimicked Jack, "I will destroy you!"

The other students laughed at their antics.

Jack turned and countered, "Drink your juice Rodriguez; you can't even destroy a wet tissue paper."

She turned to Shepard again but he appeared busy, someone was contacting him on the radio.

"Send traffic Lieutenant." Shepard said.

Jack turned to Miranda and glared, "So you're back? I couldn't even get a year off before seeing you and your double D's again?"

Miranda drawled annoyed, "The feeling is very mutual Jack. How is that victim act going for you?"

"How much time do we have?" Shepard asked, not taking note of the bickering being played out in front of him.

Jack chuckled tauntingly and gestured at Miranda's chest, "Well Shepard must be happy like a kid in a candy store playing with your tits again."

Miranda shook her head annoyed but didn't bother with responding.

"Understood, return to the Normandy. We'll figure something out." He turned his attention to Jack and Miranda, "Okay, it seems the Normandy's not a prime target for the Cerberus ships anymore and they're returning. Cortez is getting out of here with the shuttle so we better figure something out."

"So how are we getting out?" Jack asked.

Shepard radioed Sanders, "Sanders, the shuttle is a no-go, the Cerberus ships are being called back."

Sanders transmitted on Shepard's radio channel as well as on Jack's, _"Understood Commander. I might know a way out of here, but I will need station-wide camera access."_

"And how do we do that?" Shepard asked.

_"Not far from the Orion Hall there's an operations center where you can override it. But it was taken over by Cerberus, I think the broadcasts are originating from there."_

"Directions?" Shepard asked.

Sanders explained, _"Take the eastern exit and follow the directions, it shouldn't take longer than five minutes getting there."_

"Copy, I'll take a squad there. Shepard out." He turned around to the others who were assembling near them, "I'll take Miranda and James with me and we'll take control of this operations center. The rest of you stay here and guard the hall, understood?"

Garrus nodded, "You got it Shepard."

Shepard turned to Jack, "These are all your students?"

She shook her head dejected, "No, we got separated from a bunch of other students, including David Archer and two others."

"Well, we found two siblings in the hall we came from, I sent them to Sanders."

Jack smiled faintly, "Good, at least that's something."

Once again the Cerberus commander broadcasted over the intercom, but this time the students omni-tools activated automatically.

_"Students of Grissom Academy, the station is sealed. The Alliance can't save you. All they can do is get you killed. Surrender peacefully and you won't be harmed."_

Jack turned to look at her students above them and snarled, "Asshole."

"Maybe this jack off is in that operations center Commander. It would be good to shut him down," Vega said angrily.

Sanders transmitted, _"Damn it, they're messaging everyone. Students, switch your omni-tools to privacy mode so they can't track you."_

Up in the alcove the students began to access their omni-tools.

Ensign Rodriguez stared at hers and spoke alarmed, "What if...what if they're not lying."

Some of the other students shook their heads in disbelief while others remained silent, terrified of what had happened and what was going on. They had trained for combat, but this was their first taste of it, and some of them worried what was to come. They just wanted it to end.

Shepard called out reassuringly from below, "They are lying. And you've stood your ground against them so far, you can do this." He glanced at Jack, "And you've been trained by one of the best."

Jack spoke up to Rodriguez, "Come on Rodriguez, they're only asking nice because you've scared them." She continued tauntingly, "So take your balls out of your purse and kick some ass."

"Uhm...yes ma'am," Rodriguez responded cautiously looking down at her teacher.

"Alright then," Shepard said and reached for his assault rifle, "Now when that's been cleared up, let's go."

* * *

Shepard led Miranda and Vega through a long corridor, following the directions from a sign earlier. They were making good time and were heading towards the operations centre further ahead. So far they hadn't encountered any enemies.

James asked from behind Shepard and Miranda, "So...eh you know that tattooed chick?"

Miranda mumbled, "Yes..."

"We found her on Purgatory - the prison ship, not the night club - and she have not much love for Cerberus at all." Shepard explained.

"Prison ship uh? Man, what kind of people do you associate yourself with Loco?" Vega asked curious.

"One wonders sometimes actually," Miranda said uninspired.

"So, this Jack doesn't like you Miranda?"

"No," Miranda said evenly.

Shepard chuckled, "That's putting it mildly. Miranda being Cerberus once didn't make things easy."

"Well...that explains a few of her...chosen words I guess," Vega pondered.

Miranda sighed but said nothing.

The squad continued through the corridor and took a left at a crossroads of corridors leading to other areas of the Ascension Wing. After a few more minutes of trekking through corridors and hallways they reached a staircase and a blue sign on the wall nearby which read 'Operations Centre'. Shepard slowed down and hugged the wall with his back as did the two others. He carefully walked forward with his rifle at the ready and at the corner he slowly peeked out and glanced up the stairs leading up, he saw no guards. He gestured with his arm and Vega and Miranda followed him up the stairs to the door. The interface was red, the door locked.

Shepard's squad staked up at the door and Shepard ordered, "James, take the other side and ready a flashbang. I'll hack the door and when I open throw it in."

"Yes Commander," Vega said and quickly rushed over to the other side of the door and pulled out a flashbang grenade from a pouch.

Shepard leaned in with his arm and the omni-tool's advanced hacking program went to work wirelessly, hacking the interface. 15 seconds later the interface flashed green.

Shepard returned to the wall. "You both ready?"

"Yes." - "Flashbang ready."

Shepard nodded and swiped his hand over the interface and the door opened. With a swift throwing motion Vega tossed the grenade into the middle of the room. It soon detonated with a loud bang and a bright flash, the Cerberus troops inside screamed in pain.

The room was about the size of a lecture room but filled with rows of computers and workstations and a wall filled with large monitors showing security camera footage from the entire station. A very plain looking operations centre by the look of it.

Shepard rushed in first and opened fire at the closest guards and killed one. He had counted four troopers, one Centurion and what looked like an officer who was seated at a workstation. The officer wore nothing more than a Cerberus uniform. The officer covered his ears with his hands and screamed in pain. He fell of the chair and tried to crawl to cover behind the workstation.

Miranda lunged her arm forward and unleashed a biotic warp attack on the unarmored officer on the floor who cried out in pain before she ended him with a burst from her rifle. After quickly verifying that the officer was no threat she targeted the Centurion with an overload attack from her omni-tool, draining his shields and he spasmed in pain. She fired a burst of fire to the head, the bullets penetrated the helmet and the Centurion was overwhelmed and killed before he knew what had happened.

Vega took a right past the doorway and fired several bursts at the two remaining troopers who were still dazed by the effects of the flashbang. Both Miranda and Shepard quickly turned to engage and the two troopers were quickly killed.

Shepard's squad pushed forward and swept the room and made sure that the hostiles had been killed.

"Clear." Miranda said.

"Clear here." Vega responded.

"Clear." Shepard called out and walked slowly towards the workstation the officer had been seated at, most likely the main computer for the cameras Sanders needed access to. Shepard put down his rifle on the table. He glanced at the computer's monitor and began typing on the keyboard and took back control of the cameras.

"That should do it," Shepard said evenly and he radioed Sanders, "Sanders, I got control over the cameras."

_"Stand by,"_ Sanders transmitted and was silent for a few moments. She continued relieved, _"Yes Commander. That seems to have done it. I'm in control again. Thank you."_

"Alright, we'll return to Jack and the students."

_"You do that; I'll try and figure out a way out of here. __Sanders out."_

* * *

Shepard and the others returned to Orion Hall. Jack was leaning her butt against a block connected to the wall next to the steps leading down to the corridor beneath the second floor. The students had remained on the second floor and were recuperating after the fighting while the remaining squad loitered around, Garrus and Zaeed and exchanged a few words with the biotic as they stood near her.

Shepard noted how Jack had changed her appearance significantly since she left the Normandy. She was sporting a black pony tail and actual clothes and adorned a black long-sleeved leather jacket which ended just below her torso, it was open and she wore a white top of sorts which revealed her cleavage - but her outfit could be considered quite conservative taking into account her previous attire. The sides of her head were shaved and her entire body was as always decorated with tattoos, top to bottom.

Jack turned around as Shepard and his squad stopped nearby, "We're all set to leave now?"

Shepard nodded, "Likely." He radioed Sanders, "Sanders, we're back in Orion Hall now."

_"The easiest way out is through the Atrium, but Cerberus has sealed the doors. The magnetic lock can be disabled from the second floor where you are now."_

Jack had heard Sanders' voice in her own earpiece and she turned away from the others and looked up to the second floor and shouted, "Prangley! Unlock the door to the Atrium!"

"Yes, ma'am!" The student said and disappeared into the alcove.

A few moments later Prangley was seen leaning over the balcony, "All done."

"Sanders, the doors open," Shepard radioed.

_"You should be able to force the doors open now Commander."_

"So what's the plan on getting out of here?"

_"We commandeer one of the Cerberus shuttles in the docking bay and fly out."_

"Easier said than done."

Sanders said evenly,_ "Yes Commander I know, plus Cerberus is moving forces towards your location now. The Atrium is swarming with troops supported by one mech."_

"Oh great," Vega said sardonically.

_"I'll get to the shuttles and prep one to fly."_

"One of my guys can fly Kodiaks as well, I say we take two if we're this many."

_"Understood Commander."_

"Did the two students I send to you arrive?"

_"Yes Commander."_

"Good. Shepard out," Shepard said relieved and turned to Garrus and Zaeed and ordered, "Force that door open."

"You got it," Garrus said. He and Zaeed ran down the stairs to the door further down the corridor.

"My team will go through first and draw their fire, whither down their defenses," Shepard said and turned to Jack as the rest of the squad began readying their weapons.

Jack straightened herself from the block and nodded, "Sounds good. We'll shadow you from the top floor and hit those fu...I mean guys from above."

Vega said approvingly, "I like it, it keeps them safer too."

In the corridor the door had opened slightly and created a gap. Garrus and Zaeed each grabbed on to a door-half and pushed each into their respective door socket to create a wider gap to get through.

"Time your shots and stay safe." Shepard told Jack.

Garrus shouted from the door, "We can go through anytime now!"

Shepard reached for his Phalanx-gun and asked, "Do you need a gun?"

"Sure," Jack said and grabbed it, "Got any spare thermal clips?"

Shepard reached for a handful from his pouches and handed them to Jack who stuffed her pants pockets with them.

Jack nodded gratefully, "See you on the other side Shepard." She turned for the stairs leading up and barked out brusquely to her students, "All right, I didn't bust my ass training you so you could die now! Keep low and pick your targets!"

Vega chuckled, "I love a military pep-talk."

* * *

The Atrium, a cupola-like structure with a large open space inside, had artificial sunlight and sky above in the ceiling. A shallow pond was located in the open court yard with a large rock outcrop close by. The courtyard itself was dotted with flower boxes, plants and trees. Several couches and sitting areas were present throughout so students, employees and guests could find a calm and relaxing moment to enjoy the peaceful environment. The Atrium was compromised of the ground floor with a long ramp on the side opposite the rocky outcrop. The ramp was divided by a huge wall with a passageway through which separated the court yard in two halves. There was a second floor above which was connected to Orion Hall through a series of doors and corridors.

Jack led her group of students through a corridor and emerged on the second floor. Below them they saw Cerberus troops and the Atlas battle Shepard's team who had taken cover behind barricades near the entrance below. Jack and her students had already heard the muffled sounds of combat from inside the corridor before the door opened.

Jack radioed, "Shepard, we're above you!"

_"Ready for action?"_ Shepard asked coolly in her earpiece.

"Hell yes!" Jack answered enthusiastically.

_"Good, we're pinned down by turrets supporting the infantry, see if you can't take out a few turrets so we can push through and destroy that Atlas."_

"We're on it." She turned to her students and barked out orders, "Alright, remember what I taught you! We've to destroy those turrets below and these things aren't holos like the one you trained on so give it all you got!"

Jack and her students swarmed the upper balcony near the guardrail and spotted the turrets and the generators supplying power to the protective shield. Once they had oriented themselves they unleashed barrages of warp attacks, ripping through the shields and damaging the turrets. Shepard's team had fanned out bellow amongst the barricades, and Jack noted that Shepard was leading Miranda and Zaeed up the ramp, keeping a low profile while attacking Cerberus troopers and Guardians which tried to flank them. Behind cover at the entrance, Garrus was leading Liara and Vega against an onslaught of Guardians as best as they could while taking heavy fire from the turrets which dotted the court yard and the Atlas.

As Jack and her students had destroyed several turrets, Garrus' squad was now able to defeat the Guardians massing at their position as Shepard's squad opened fire from the ramp down the court yard. At the barricades, Vega reached for his missile launcher and fired the last remaining missile at the Atlas which destroyed it, killing the pilot in the explosion as the missile struck the cockpit. Vega discarded his disposable missile launcher and reached for his assault rifle and joined his squad to engage the ground troops.

The two squads continued fighting the remaining Cerberus troops, trapping them in a coordinated crossfire of small arms fire and biotics. As the last trooper fell dead, Garrus' squad pushed forward while Shepard's squad headed down a long flight of stairs and the two squads rendezvoused near the edge of the large wall separating the courtyard.

Jack and her students dashed onwards on the second floor to get into a better firing position. From the second floor Jack had a much better view of the Atrium and could see a large contingent of Cerberus troopers, Centurions and engineers massing at the far end of the court yard.

Panting as she ran Jack radioed Shepard, "More on the way on the other side of the Atrium, Shepard! Watch it."

_"Copy that. We're heading for a corridor here to circle around. The door past the ramp was disabled."_

"We'll make it difficult for them in the meantime." Jack replied.

Jack stopped in her tracks with the students in tow and they began bombarding the troops and turrets below with biotics.

Jack waved her arm and pulled a trooper of the ground below them, sending him floating in the air helplessly before Prangley unleashed a warp which detonated Jack's biotic power and sent the trooper screaming before he slammed into a nearby concrete pillar and died.

Jack grinned and praised, "Nice one Prangley!"

Prangley, standing near Jack, gave her a quick nod before he unleashed another warp attack at a tropper which was followed by an attack by Rodriguez. The trooper was overwhelmed and couldn't reach cover and spasmed by the dark energy which engulfed and killed him.

The contingent of Cerberus troopers below opened fire at Jack and her students, directing a barrage of small arms fire at the second floor, sending the students scurrying for cover. Jack darted behind a pillar near the guardrail.

_Fuck! Where's Shepard?_

She reached for the Phalanx-pistol at her side and leaned out and opened fire as rapidly as she could at a Centurion. His shields absorbed the rounds but Jack continued her firing and unleashed a warp for good measure when the pistol was depleted which killed the Centurion. Jack quickly returned to cover to reload.

The Cerberus troops continued firing at her and the rounds tore away chips of concrete on the pillar.

Jack called out, "Shepard! Where are you? We're taking heavy fire here!"

"We're here." Shepard radioed.

The gunfire intensified in the court yard as Shepard's team pushed through and spread out over the area firing at the enemies and the turrets.

The Cerberus troops were slowly being overwhelmed as they tried to counter the attacks from above and in front of them. They soon found cover amongst the pillars, barricades and sitting areas. Two engineers darted away from cover with no regard for their own life and tried to set up additional turrets but were quickly killed by Shepard's team.

The Centurions leading the troopers and engineers counter-attacked, spreading out their squads as half of them attack Shepard's team and the other half attacked Jack and her students.

A concentrated barrage of small arms fire was directed at the second floor and Rodriguez got overwhelmed as she exposed her body from behind a pillar, the rounds drained her barrier. She fell on her back by the kinetic energy of the rounds and gasped in pain.

Jack turned to her and rushed to her side and slid down on her knees and dropped the gun on the floor, furious at the Cerberus troops below trying to kill her kids. She ripped apart the shirt around the shoulder to examine her wound and scolded the student, "Damn it Rodriguez, this isn't dodgeball. Keep your barriers up!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Rodriguez gasped.

At least one bullet had penetrated the Ensign's barrier and gone right through the shoulder and blood was pouring down her arm.

Jack turned to Prangley, who was attacking the Cerberus troops below with the rest of the students, and shouted, "Prangley, slap some medi-gel on her!"

Prangley darted away from cover towards Jack and Rodriguez, "Yes ma'am!"

Prangley slid down on his knees and reached for a medi-gel injector from his cargo pocket on his pants and jammed it into her shoulder which made Rodriguez grunt in pain. The medical salve closed up the wound and Prangley quickly discarded the injector.

"I'm okay!" Rodriguez cried out and winced as the medi-gel spread through her wound.

Jack snarled, "Like hell you are! Stay down! If you die on me I will kick your ass!"

_"Everyone okay up there?"_ Shepard asked worried.

"Yeah yeah, Rodriguez got sloppy and took one in the arm because she didn't watch her barriers!" Jack radioed back in her usual brusque manner. She picked up her gun and left Rodriguez's side.

Jack stopped at the edge of the balcony and aimed her pistol down range at a trooper behind a barricade busy with shooting Shepard's team.

Jack fired several rounds hitting the trooper in the upper body and called out resentful, "You come after my kids? You are dead, you hear me!"

_Fuckers!_

The trooper fell dead to the ground and Jack bunkered down behind a pillar to reload her pistol.

* * *

Down in the court yard, Shepard ordered Liara and Garrus to follow him as they ran up a long staircase leading up to the ramp above them, from there they attacked the remaining Cerberus squads from an elevated position as the second squad pushed through the court yard. The Cerberus troops were caught in the crossfire of biotics and small arms fire and were defeated.

Shepard breathed a sigh of relief as he reloaded his assault rifle, overlooking the carnage and dead Cerberus troops down in the court yard.

"Everyone okay?" Shepard shouted.

"We're fine down here." Miranda shouted back from behind a wall.

"Good. Rendezvous on me." Shepard responded. He turned to Liara and Garrus, "You good?"

"Fine here Shepard, just the usual bruises and whatnot," Garrus responded deadpanned.

"I'm alright." Liara said out of breath.

Shepard led Liara and Garrus down the ramp near the exit of the Atrium, an open door leading into a short corridor, as Miranda's squad walked up the stairs and joined them.

Shepard radioed Sanders, "We cleared the Atrium. Sanders, what's the situation on your end?"

_"I've reached the Cerberus shuttles without being detected. I don't know how long that will last, you need to hurry."_

"Yeah, we're on our way. Shepard out." He then turned and shouted up to Jack, "We're pushing forward and will try and support you guys the best we can."

"You got it." Jack called back.

Shepard gestured for the others to follow him and they ran through the corridor towards the door on the other side. Shepard swiped his hand over the interface and walked through with the others as the door opened. They rushed through a passageway leading to a hallway of angled walls with artificial waterfalls in front of them.

Nearing the hallway they heard the unmistaken voice of a Cerberus trooper further down.

_"That's an impressive barrier you got there Octavia. Our files say you've been working on shield technology."_

Shepard gestured for the others to keep a low profile and they hugged the wall following Shepard as he moved slowly at the wall leading up to the hallway. Shepard peered around the corner and saw two troopers with their backs to him as they confronted three students surrounded by a shield bubble and on the floor between the students was a shield generator.

One of the students sneered, "It's a handheld multicore solution based on cyclonic barrier technology, jackass. And it's pronounced Oc-tah-via."

Shepard brought up his rifle and opened fire at the two troopers in quick controlled bursts at the back of their heads, swiftly shifting between the targets. They fell dead on the floor before they had time to react.

"Clear," Shepard said and rose from cover with the others in tow and cut the distance to the students.

The student in front, Octavia, stood her ground and held up her hand with her omni-tool activated, controlling the shield generator. She watched Shepard and the others cautiously but didn't move nor did she lower the shield.

Shepard stopped nearby and explained, "I'm Commander Shepard with the Alliance, and we're here to get you out of here."

Behind Shepard his squad spread out and covered the hallway.

From behind the barrier Octavia snorted, "Yeah right. You think I'll fall for that? That other guy said the same thing."

Before Shepard could say anything more a young male student in the back with shaved head, down on one knee on the floor and hunched over the generator spoke up, "The square root of 906.01 equals..."

Shepard clearly remembered the soft voice and filled in, "30.1."

The young autistic mathematical savant looked up and greeted friendly, "Hello Commander Shepard."

Shepard smiled, "Hello David."

"You know each other?" The second male student, Issac, standing near Octavia asked surprised.

"Yes. He rescued me from Cerberus. Sent me here. He made it quiet," David Archer explained.

Issac looked at Octavia and she gave him a nod and the two of them tapped their omni-tools and the shield generator shut down.

Shepard praised, "You kids did a great job keeping yourself safe."

"Uh...Thanks Commander," Octavia said with a faint smile.

Shepard continued, "Jack and the other students are on the floor above us heading for the shuttle bay where Kahlee Sanders is waiting. You should head up to them."

Octavia nodded, "Alright sir. We'll go to them."

David rose to his feet and walked up to Shepard.

"He seems to have recovered well," Garrus observed next to Shepard.

_He has_, Shepard thought. He could swith aversion remember the contraption which Gavin Archer had strung up David in. The younger brother's naked body had appeared grey and deathlike with wires connected to his skull and tubes shoved down his mouth, his eyes had been forced open with hooks and the eyes had been moving around frantically. Shepard had been fuming with hatred towards the Cerberus scientist and only the presence of the helpless brother had stopped him from beating the man to a pulp. Thankfully it seemed that David was feeling better and had regained his natural skin tone and appeared at ease.

David glanced at the armed team around Shepard; he recognized some of them and gave Garrus an acknowledging nod, "Normandy Crew. I remember you." David looked glum and turned his eyes to the floor, "I apologize for what I did." He looked up again at Garrus.

Garrus shook his head and said friendly, "No need for that."

"Has Grissom Academy treated you right?" Shepard asked.

David nodded, "Yes, I've been counting."

"Anything in particular?"

"The number of days you lengthened my life."

Shepard smiled, happy for David's well being.

Octavia chimed in, "We better hurry."

"Goodbye." David said as he and his friends rushed away to a staircase leading up to the second floor to the left of Shepard.

Shepard looked at the shield generator on the floor and called out to the students, "What of this thing?"

Octavia turned around at the edge of the staircase, "We need to hurry and it's too cumbersome to carry, Commander."

The three students disappeared up the staircase to the second floor.

Shepard radioed Jack, "We saved three other students from Cerberus troops. They're heading up to you now." He looked around, "We're...eh...in some junction near a security station just past the exit from the Atrium."

_"Great job Shepard. Yeah, I know where that is, we'll be waiting for them."_

"Good, Shepard out." Shepard turned to Garrus, "Mine that shield generator. It'll give Cerberus a surprise of they come here."

Garrus grinned, "You got it." He reached into one of his pouches and brought up a couple of proximity mines.

* * *

Shepard and his team cut through a corridor and pressed on to the shuttle bay. They came up to a new door and Shepard swiped his hand over the interface and as they walked through the doorway they entered a hallway with a large staircase at the end leading up. They stopped in the tracks as they stumbled upon a Cerberus engineer tinkering with a battle damaged Atlas mech near the wall, the canopy had been shattered.

The engineer heard the disturbance and turned to the door, seeing Shepard and his team he tried to reach for his weapon but was quickly killed by a short burst from Shepard's rifle.

Vega walked up and gazed at the mech once the threat was dealt with, "Wow...I call shotgun on that thing."

"Eh, no you don't LT, I'll commandeer it."

Vega sighed and relented.

From behind Shepard, Garrus murmured, "Crap."

Shepard walked over to the mech and holstered his rifle.

Liara chimed in, "I think we should stay far away from the mech with Shepard in it, even if the Atlas has potential to support us."

"Agreed," Garrus said.

Vega looked at the two aliens bewildered.

Garrus explained, "You don't want to be in or near a vehicle with Shepard at the controls."

Shepard turned and protested, "Hey, it's not my fault the Mako handles like it does!"

Garrus turned to Shepard and deadpanned, "It's not just the Mako you know? You just can't drive."

Shepard gestured dismissively at Garrus and climbed up one of the legs and took a seat inside the cockpit of the Atlas.

Miranda chimed in with a devilish grin, "That's why I never let him drive when on a date with him."

"Whatever. I'm hardcore and you all are just a bunch of wussies. And you Garrus, you and your ugly, scaly ass can't take a few bumps? What you call torture, I call a massage." Shepard deadpanned and adjusted to the seat and closed the canopy. He examined the central console and started up the machine with the press of a button. The element zero core on the back of the mech spooled up.

Liara called out apprehensive, "Do you even know what you are doing John?"

"This is child's play," Shepard explained, "Control stick on the right and the weapons control stick on the left." He grabbed both controls and took command of the mech.

Being the first time he controlled one he tried to get used to the controls and the mech walked around the spacious hall in a wobbling motion while the others watched in both amazement and anxiety. But it wasn't long until Shepard got the hang of the controls and steered it towards the stair case leading up to the waiting hall off the shuttle bay.

"Let's let Shepard take care of the enemies and we'll mop up the remnants." Garrus observed

"Sounds like a good idea," Liara responded.

Shepard steered the Atlas through the wide stair case and emerged on top in the spacious waiting hall; on each side there was an overpass above held up by several glazed walls, there was a several story high atria, giving the already large waiting hall a feeling of space and light. In the middle of the hall there was a raised statue and memorial wall of the station's namesake, Jon Grissom. On the right side of the hall there the wall was constructed around a large window and beyond it was the shuttle bay itself and several Cerberus Kodiaks could be seen parked there.

The hall was already populated with a dozen Cerberus troopers and Centurions moving towards the entrance to the shuttle bay at the far end, having figured out what Sanders was up to. The troops were already darting from cover to cover to shield themselves from the biotic attacks from Jack and her students on the second floor above the entrance. They were shielded by a biotic barrier. Shepard flickered of the Master Arm switch on his weapons control stick and opened fire with the slow firing but devastating mass-accelerator cannon.

The Cerberus squads were taken by surprise from the attack on their rear and most, if not all, were quickly defeated as they were unable to take cover before being cut down.

The rest of the team split up in two squads on each side of the hall and flanked the enemy with Vega following Miranda, and Garrus taking the others with him. They pressed on and engaged the few surviving hostiles as Shepard's Atlas pushed on in the middle. They quickly cleared the waiting hall.

In Shepard's earpiece he heard Jack's amazed voice, _"Holy hell Shepard! I thought that was a Cerberus mech and that we were done for. That thing can come in handy."_

"Oh yeah," Shepard responded in glee before he commanded, "Sanders prep the shuttles, we'll cover you."

_"I'm on it Commander."_

Shepard took up position in front of the shuttle bay entrance and turned around, covering the rest of the hall while his two squads bunkered down behind nearby walls.

The remaining Cerberus units on the station amassed on the hall, they emerged from various entrances across the hall, both on the ground level and on the second floor, poised to stop the students from fleeing Grissom Academy. But with the superior firepower possessed by the Atlas the squads of Centurions, troopers and engineers was duly defeated while Jack and her students provided support with their biotics.

Even with the overwhelming amount of Cerberus squads converging on the hall Shepard and his allies managed to keep them away from the shuttle bay; while Shepard's team attacked the troops on the ground floor Shepard focused his attention on the second floor where a dozen of troops pressed on despite the barrage of biotic attacks from Jack and the students. Shepard bombarded the enemy with rockets and cannon fire, ripping apart the oncoming onslaught of troops, stopping their attack.

Having sensed that their troops could not push forward, Cerberus had directed an Atlas towards the waiting hall as a last ditch resort to defeat Shepard's commandeered mech. The Cerberus Atlas emerged from the staircase and engaged Shepard, and with a broken canopy Shepard had to be even more careful then when he was engaging the ground forces. The Cerberus Atlas fired several rockets at Shepard's mech but he managed to steer the lumbering Atlas behind a wall for cover and the rockets detonated on the other side, blowing away chunks of concrete.

Shepard's squad opened fire at the mech to draw its fire from Shepard who emerged from behind the wall and launched several rockets and opened fire with the Atlas's mass accelerator cannon. A few well placed rockets and heavy slugs from the cannon and the enemy Atlas was soon reduced to debris as it exploded.

Sanders' voice was heard in their earpieces, _"Commander, the shuttles are ready."_

"Copy, we're coming to you now." Shepard radioed and steered the Atlas behind the wall again for cover.

Jack called out in her usual manner, _"We're clear, now move your ass before backup arrives!"_

Shepard opened the hatch of the Atlas and climbed out of it and jumped down on the floor. His team rallied around him and he ordered, "On me!"

They acknowledged and rushed over to the door. The rest of the team fanned out and provided cover in case more Cerberus reinforcements would turn up and Shepard opened the door. Moments later they all had poured into the lobby and the door shut behind them. Shepard quickly accessed the interface and locked it from their end.

From one of the stairs in the far end of the lobby Jack and her students emerged from the second floor.

"Everyone with you?" Shepard turned from the door and asked Jack.

She stopped and turned to her students as they ran past her to the shuttles and made a quick head count and turned back to Shepard, "Yeah, we're all here."

Outside the lobby in the cargo bay two Cerberus shuttles were ready to go, both shuttle doors were open and the students piled into them. Sanders were standing near one of the shuttles and ushered the students in.

Shepard ordered, "James, take the lead shuttle."

Vega nodded and rushed up to it, "Yes sir!"

Muffled gunshots were heard from the waiting hall and bullets struck the windows of the lobby but didn't shatter them. Cerberus reinforcements converged on the hall and rushed through it in a last ditch effort to stop the evacuation.

"And we're leaving now!" Shepard barked as he ran towards the second shuttle.

Shepard's team split up and entered the Kodiaks, Vega was at the controls of the lead Kodiak while Sanders quickly rushed into the cockpit of the second Kodiak and readied it for flight. When the shuttle doors of both Kodiaks closed and locked the two shuttles lifted off and moved in close formation towards the exit, the airlock opened and the shuttles sped through the barrier curtains and away from the station.

* * *

Inside the second shuttle the students was in the seats while Shepard, Zaeed, Garrus and Jack was standing in the cramped passenger compartment, holding onto handrails at various points on the walls. The students were visibly shaken but relieved of getting out of Grissom Academy alive. They sat in silent trying to calm their nerves; facing combat for the first time in their young lives had its toll. They all knew not everyone had come out of the station alive and that several of their friends had either been killed or taken by Cerberus, but they were all grateful for the arrival of Shepard and the Normandy.

Shepard radioed the Normandy, "Joker, we're leaving in two Cerberus shuttles, do not engage!"

_"Copy that Commander, I got you on my scope."_

"Any troubles with Cerberus?"

_"Negative, they don't know I'm here. I'm sending our location to you now. I'm a few minutes out."_

"Roger that. Cover our exfiltration and as soon as we've docked with the Normandy head to the relay."

_"You got it. Joker out."_

From the cockpit Sanders called out relieved, "Thank you Commander. We'd never gotten of that station without your help."

Shepard turned around and strolled into the cockpit, "Your welcome Lieutenant."

Behind him in the passenger compartment Jack spoke up and praised the students, "Fu-forget that. You kicked ass! Next civilized place we dock you are all getting inked. My treat. What do you guys want? Ascension Project logo? Glowing fist?" She looked at Rodriguez and continued tauntingly, "A unicorn for Rodriguez?"

In her seat with her hand pressing on her wound Rodriguez protested, "Screw you ma'am."

Shepard chuckled before he turned his attention to Sanders again, "Where to after this?"

"We can leave the Normandy for the Citadel with the shuttles as soon as we've dropped you off." Sanders said.

Shepard shook his head, "Not happening Lieutenant, you got two wounded students who need medical attention and I have business at the Citadel so we will give you a lift."

Sanders turned to Shepard and nodded grateful, "Thank you Commander."

"Plus we got room and food, and how fun is it to transit to the Citadel in a cramped Kodiak?"

Enthusiasm filled the students in the passenger compartment; none of them had ever been aboard an Alliance warship and became exited of the prospect of touring the famous Normandy.

Shepard turned from the cockpit and walked over to Jack and stopped.

Joker's voice was heard in the intercom, _"We got visual on you now, preparing to dock."_

Sanders responded, "Understood Normandy. Initiating docking sequence."

Joker spoke up again, this time tauntingly, _"Hey Jack, now that you're military, are you gonna wear a uniform or are you just going to tattoo officer's bars on your shoulders?"_

Jack snorted, "Screw you, you f-." She reeled in herself and sighed, "Flight lieutenant."

Joker chuckled, _"Uh, what was that?"_

Sanders explained with a faint smirk as she piloted the Kodiak the last kilometer, "Jack made a promise to watch her language in order to maintain the professional behavior we require from our teachers."

Shepard laughed good-naturedly but Jack didn't appreciate it and turned to him and mustered a viscous glare. Zaeed and Garrus joined in as well, finding it all very hilarious considering the former convict's behavior in the past. Jack looked away from Shepard and sighed and shook her head. She didn't bother reprimanding her old team mates.

Joker chimed in, _"So, you guys have a swear jar? Fill it up with credits every time she lets an F-word fly? I bet we could afford a cruiser or even a new Normandy with all that money."_

Jack mumbled a warning to the students, "Cover your ears kids." She called out annoyed, "Hey Joker! Fuck you!"


	38. Reunions

Despite flying Kodiaks which lacked stealth capabilities, the return to the Normandy went smooth. After docking, the two wounded students were taken to the infirmary and Chakwas's capable hands for medical attention. EDI promptly directed the Cerberus shuttles VI's to fly them out of the cargo bay through the barrier curtain and leave them in space after Joker had established level flight, there was no reason to keep the shuttles onboard as it would only crowd the cargo bay further. Joker kicked the Normandy into FTL and accelerated towards the relay on the other side of the system so they could leave the area as expedient as possible, the Cerberus task force was still out there but according to their scans it remained in the vicinity of Grissom Academy.

With the lack of space throughout the Normandy the cargo bay was designated as the sleeping area for the students for the time being. Crew members led by Vega set out to retrieve and setup folding beds for the students who were soon sent up to the mess hall under Jack's and Sanders' supervision for some warm food and beverages.

The team returned to their respective quarters of the ship and Shepard, still in his armor, headed for the comm room to contact Admiral Hackett to give him a quick debrief on what had happened on Grissom. EDI had established a connection and by the time Shepard arrived at the QEC Admiral Hackett greeted him.

_"Commander, what do you got for me?"_

"Cerberus was after the students and also technology being developed there," Shepard said bluntly. "We got all the surviving students, the Academy director and an instructor out of there alive. 17 individuals in total. Some students were sadly killed or taken away by Cerberus. The survivors are onboard and we'll take them to the Citadel as that's our next stop."

_"Commander, I got a high-priority tasking for you. I hope you haven't left Vetus-system?"_

"Stand by sir," Shepard said and he called out, "EDI, we haven't jumped through the relay yet I assume?"

EDI responded, _"Negative Shepard."_

"Thanks EDI." Shepard turned to Hackett, "What do you want from me Admiral?"

Hackett explained, _"Cerberus has attacked Eden Prime. I can't spare any forces but as you are not far away I need you to head there and stop Cerberus. Distress signals have jammed all available frequencies and what little we know is that a major prothean artifact at one of the colonies have been uncovered and we don't have the faintest idea what it is but it's likely the reason Cerberus attacked. I need you to infiltrate the colony and recover that artifact."_

"Roger that sir." Shepard responded and called for the pilot, "Joker, change destination to Eden Prime instead."

_"Eh...right Eden Prime it is."_ Joker answered surprised, but but carried out the order nonetheless.

_"Very good Commander,"_ Hackett said. _"I'll send you a briefing packet on what little we have."_

"We'll get it done sir."

Hackett nodded and said evenly, _"You did good work at Grissom and I'm sure everything will be in the report." _Hackett smiled faintly and said,_ "If you excuse me Commander, I got a third party I've been talking to that I want to patch into this debrief."_

"Uh...yes sir." Shepard said curious.

Hackett reached for his own console and punched in a few buttons and on the second holo projector Shepard saw Admiral Anderson coming into view. He wore an Alliance cap and BDU's with a tactical vest on him, the pouches filled with thermal clips.

Shepard smiled relieved seeing his old friend and mentor alive, "Admiral."

Anderson chuckled, _"Damned if you aren't a sight for sore eyes."_

"It's good to see you sir."

_"Sir?"_ Anderson asked dubious with a grin. _"I might have reinstated you, but that doesn't mean you can go all formal on me."_

Shepard grinned, "Of course Anderson."

Anderson nodded, _"That's better."_

Hackett chimed in with a grin to, not often for the battle hardened Admiral, _"I thought you two wanted to catch up." _

"Have there been any progress between the turians and the krogan?"

_Hackett explained, "The first round of transports that will carry the krogan ground forces to Palaven have already arrived, and surprisingly the two resentful allies are cooperating without major difficulty. There have been some minor incidents, but the situation seems better than we could have hoped for. The major offensive against the Reapers on Palaven will start soon and the Hierarchy High Command has high hopes for its results. Even now it seems the krogan are giving the Reapers a moment of pause."_

Shepard nodded pleased, "That's good to hear."

_"Indeed, and you did utilize your friendship with the leader of clan Urdnot to great effect. Dialogue between krogan and the other species would be far more difficult without his presence. And Urdnot Wrex seems to be showing his keen organizational skills in the preparation for the offensive. Despite how controversial the decision to support the turians is among krogan, the clans are more united than ever. And the support of the first krogan female is probably a major contribution as the rest of the females quickly followed. In all we're in a better situation than we were days ago, but we've a lot more ground to cover."_

Anderson chuckled, _"I never thought it possible for turians and krogan get along."_

_"Neither did I,"_ Hacket agreed. _"Commander, there's something I'd like to do before I leave you two now when we have a third party here to witness."_

"Yes, sir?" Shepard asked curious.

_"I've put in, and approved, a battlefield promotion for you Lieutenant Commander." _Hackett simply said.

Anderson, who obviously already knew, grinned, _"Congratulations Staff Commander."_

Shepard was visually surprised, "Staff...? I don't think I've done the allocated time as a Lieutenant Commander yet, Admirals."

Hackett gestured dismissively at Shepard, _"Nonsense, you've just put together the very makings of the allied forces to defeat the Reapers. That, if anything, warrants a promotion."_

_"And minimum time in service is three years for a Lieutenant Commander, and it's over three and a half years now since you was promoted, Shepard,"_ Anderson chimed in.

"Yeah, but most of that time I was dead and then I hung out with the wrong crowd, and then I got incarcerated," Shepard responded sardonically.

Anderson shrugged and smirked, _"Well, we're Admirals so what we say goes. And Steven is the commander of Alliance forces so you don't have much to say here."_

_"Then it's settled. Next time you arrive at the Citadel a couple of new officer bars will be delivered to the Normandy and your rank will be official by then. This is also as official as the promotion ceremony will be, Staff Commander. Congratulations."_

Shepard saluted, "Yes sir. Thank you."

Both Hackett and Anderson saluted back.

_"Congratulations son,"_ Anderson said approvingly with a smile.

_"I'll leave you two for now. Good luck on Eden Prime, Commander. Hackett out."_

Hackett disconnected and the holo disappeared.

Anderson joked grimly, _"So, I imagine that by now you've wiped the galaxy clean of the Reapers and we can come up for air?"_

"Afraid not, Anderson. We haven't heard much from most parts of Europe." Shepard said evenly before he continued glad, "Good to finally hear from you."

_"Yeah, we managed to liberate a QEC from an airbase and eventually got it working. For now we're just trying to stay alive and collect intel on the Reapers, try and disrupt them whenever we can."_

"How is the situation?"

Anderson sighed glumly, _"It's tough, the major cities are in ruins, smaller towns are mostly untouched but void of people. Industrial and military targets have been annihilated. If we keep out of the cities and stay in the country-side we can move around much easier, but the recon teams report a lot of culling of civilians and there are a lot of death camps around. It's not a pretty scene."_

"You think you can manage until we can launch a counter-attack?"

_"We take one day at a time, there's not much we can do besides organizing the resistance at a local level. At least we don't have lack of volunteers, there are a lot of people eager to fight back and everyone knows what's at stake."_

"Then they're motivated to fight until we can fire the Crucible."

_"Steven briefed me on the Crucible. Scary stuff putting all our eggs in one basket. Let's hope it works. And from what he tells me you haven't wasted time getting to work. He told me that you had a mission to Grissom, I don't even want to think about what would happen if those kids had been taken by Cerberus."_

"We got some but not all out of there," Shepard explained.

Anderson scoffed, _"The young minds at Grissom are some of the best humanity has and we're sending them into war! Goddamn it how I hate this war."_ Anderson looked worryingly at Shepard, _"I have a friend who works-"_

"Kahlee Sanders is fine Anderson, she's onboard as are all the survivors," Shepard said reassuringly.

Anderson sighed in relief, _"Thank you Shepard. When Steven told me about the attack..." _Anderson paused and contemplated glum and took a deep breath, "_Well, I've lost a lot of friends in this war by now."_

"I can call her up here if you want. I bet she's eager to talk to you."

Anderson was quiet for a moment and nodded with a faint smile, _"Would you? We haven't talked in a while. It'd be good to see her again."_ The Admiral's smile widened, _"This is the best news I've heard in a while Shepard."_

"It's safe to assume that you two were close."

Anderson nodded and said dejected, _"She and I...we were more than close. We've known each other for twenty years. I miss her. The end of the galaxy gives you a different perspective on things. Reminding you what you've forgot to do. Maybe when this war is over we'll find a way to do something about that."_

"I wish you the best," Shepard said understandingly.

The war had certainly changed Shepard's outlook and what he wanted out of his life if they got out of this in one piece. Being cut off from someone you cared for couldn't be easy on Anderson - or Sanders for that matter. Shepard was happy that he had Miranda close by. Despite all the death and destruction, he could relax, recuperate and feel...safe with Miranda, even if it was a facade at times with the war all around them. It was comforting and it kept him sane having her to share things with, someone to feel loved by and to love in return.

Anderson's predicament gave Shepard a reality check and he had a nagging craving to hold Miranda close for a while.

_After a shower perhaps._

Shepard shook away those thoughts and spoke up, "EDI, send Sanders up to the war room."

_"As you wish Shepard."_ EDI responded.

* * *

Sanders walked out of the elevator in the CIC. She'd been in the mess hall with the students, taking a well deserved meal with them. Sanders was curious what Commander Shepard wanted, and in the war room of all places.

The officer hurried past the CIC and through the guard post. When she walked through the door and entered what appeared to be a conference room she saw Shepard waiting, leaning his back at the glass wall of the conference room. He looked up when the door opened and straightened himself from the wall.

"Commander, what can I do for you?"

Shepard said evenly, "First I want to inform you that we will take a detour to Eden Prime, I have a mission there so we won't go to the Citadel right away."

"I understand, I think we'll be able to settle in here for a while longer, and the students seems excited being onboard. It could take their minds of things."

Shepard nodded and smiled friendly, "Secondly, we've established contact with Anderson. He's on the QEC in the comm room."

Sanders face lit up and her heart soared at the news.

"David? He's alive?" Sanders asked surprised and overjoyed at the news.

Shepard nodded, "Yeah, head through the war room. The comm room is in the far end of it. You can't miss it."

"Thank you Commander," Sanders said and rushed past him.

"You're welcome." Shepard shouted back.

Sanders dashed through the war room and soon ended up in the comm room and saw the familiar stature of Anderson waiting in holo format.

"David! Thank God you're alive!" Sanders exclaimed as she walked closer.

Anderson nodded, _"Hey Kahlee. I'm relieved you got out of Grissom in one piece."_

"Yes, the Commander is as good as you've told me. He and his team got us out of there." She sighed and continued glum, "Sadly not all of us did."

Anderson nodded sympathetic, _"I know, Shepard told me. But some of you did get out."_

"Yes, at least that's something. How are things?"

_"I'll spare you the details, but it's rough. We're fighting back guerilla style and collecting intelligence whenever possible. And thanks to this liberated QEC we can talk to the rest of the world - and the galaxy. We know of resistance groups fighting across the globe, but a lot of cities and countries have gone dark."_

"I honestly don't know what we can do to stop them." Sanders said dejected.

_"The Alliance have something brewing Kahlee, Hackett just informed me of something called Project Crucible, might be our shoot at defeating the Reapers. You're good with computers maybe he will recruit you to the project."_

"Oh? At least that's something."

_"They'll need everyone with an ounce of intelligence on that project. They have found blueprints to a massive prothean weapon on Mars and are constructing it."_

"Prothean?"

_"Even I don't know all the details, talk to Hackett when you get a chance."_

"Then maybe not all is lost. But it sounds…ominous."

Anderson nodded and said vigorously, _"Yeah I know, but we don't have much choice in the matter. But we got Shepard forming alliances. We're going to win this."_

* * *

The slight familiar jolt of jumping to FTL and entering the mass relay was felt throughout the ship.

The mess hall was teeming with activity as the students were eating. Most were exhausted from use of their biotics battling Cerberus. The Normandy crew members had moved a lot of additional chairs into the mess hall, including the table from the crew quarters, so all the students could eat together. The two wounded students were in the infirmary, recuperating from the loss of blood. Chakwas had hooked them up to hypertonic fluids to resuscitate the blood loss, the medi-gel had of course helped immensely but proper medical attention and surgery was required for the two students to recover.

Jack was sitting at the large table and eating mostly in silence, listening to the idle chatter her students were occupying themselves with to get their minds of the ordeal back on Grissom. She lamented that the Normandy lacked a chef, and she even missed that Cerberus lackey of a chef from last year.

_At least he could make food._

One of the female students in front of Jack spoke up, "So you worked with Commander Shepard, ma'am?"

Jack looked up from her plate, "Yeah."

Prangley grinned, "That's pretty bad ass."

Jack shrugged and drank some water from a bottle.

"And...you worked with Cerberus-?"

Jack spat bothered and cut Prangley off, "Fuck that!" She stopped and shook her head, reeling herself in after another curse word slipped her mouth. She continued evenly, "No, I worked with Shepard as he helped me with a few things last year and that happened to take place onboard this ship when it belonged to Cerberus. But I never worked with Cerberus, I never trusted them."

"Right, sorry ma'am." Prangley said feeling stupid.

"You see these scars?" Jack said annoyed and pointed at the base of her neck, "Cerberus did this to me when I was half your age. If we hadn't gotten out of Grissom we'd end up turned into God knows what."

"I understand ma'am." Prangley said.

"When my business with Shepard was done I couldn't wait until I got of that ship. But we did see some heavy action."

Prangley grinned, "Yeah! We've trained hard for this war ma'am, we too wanna get out there and kick some ass."

Jack remained stoic and said nothing. But on the inside she was protective of her kids, she had worked with them for months and had began to care for them, she had never thought she'd care so much. And although they had made progress they were far from being battle ready, there was no way they would survive a war without more training - and continued training looked even more bleak now with Grissom evacuated and the Alliance's continued demands. That was one of the reasons she had never told them about the Collector mission as that might have given them ideas and she scolded herself for slipping just now.

She would have to talk to Shepard before they arrived at the Citadel and get him to talk to her kids. The King of the Boy Scouts could convince them into support roles instead which would be much safer.

One of the male students next to Prangley said, "You saw that brunette in black armor? Man is she hot!"

Prangley grinned, "Oh yeah."

Jack snorted.

"You know her?" Prangley asked as he turned to Jack. Most of the students had seen Jack and Miranda bicker but hadn't heard exactly what was said.

"Wish I didn't. Damn Cerberus cheerleader," Jack said derisively.

"Cerberus...?" Prangley asked cautiously.

Despite her feelings towards Miranda, Jack could give credit to her for quitting Cerberus. Jack said begrudgingly, "Not anymore...getting laid by Shepard opened her eyes."

_And her legs._

"The Commander is with her?" Prangley chuckled amazed, "Damn!"

Jack glanced at the walk way leading to the XO office as her students continued talking, going from the subject of Miranda to instead being onboard one of the most famous vessels in the Alliance.

As no one had entered or exited the office Jack assumed Miranda was inside. She always found it amusing to bicker with her, berating Miranda for her association with Cerberus. Jack also decided that she...wanted to 'catch up' with her. Jack thought back on their squabbles and found them entertaining, at least in the past it had been easy to hit Miranda's buttons the few times they inadvertently interacted. But not so much now it seemed.

Jack quickly finished her meal and rose from the table. She walked to the kitchen and left the kitchenware in the dishwasher and headed for the XO quarters. Last time she'd been inside there she'd thrown a chair across the room with her biotics, angry about Pragia and her own past. Angry at the cheerleader and her attitude.

One more thing she could give the cheerleader credit for was that she wasn't one to back down.

Jack opened the door and stepped inside. She stopped in her tracks and looked dumbfounded at the re-arranged room with a large server farm on her left and a wall of monitors to her right where the cheerleader's office table once was.

_What the f-?_

Her line of thought abruptly ended when a blue glowing drone entered her field of view and moved around erratically. Jack almost fired up her biotics and was to smash her hand into it but stopped when she sensed it wasn't a threat.

The drone spoke, _"Dr. T'Soni, unauthorized personnel have entered your quarters."_

"I see that Glyph." Liara said from behind the server farm. The Shadow Broker rose from the computer terminal she had been seated at and walked over to the intruder.

The drone disappeared to the wall near the server farm.

A scowl formed on Jacks' brow as she scrutinized the asari.

_Isn't that the blueberry Shepard visited while on Illium last year?_

Jack had never accompanied Shepard on Illium while they hadn't been on a mission there, and certainly not when he was to meet some random asari there to supply him with information. And that asari was probably this one.

"Jack," Liara greeted. "Something I can help you with?"

"Isn't this the cheerleader's office?" Jack asked suspiciously.

"Miranda? I had to place my equipment as information broker somewhere and this room was empty at that time. I arrived here before Miranda boarded."

"Then where is she?"

"Miranda resides with John," Liara simply said.

_That figures, _Jack scoffed._ So much for reminiscing about the past._

Jack asked, "You are that information broker from Illium right?"

"Correct."

Jack said snotty, "Well, shit. Another soft woman following Shepard, eh?"

Liara faintly grinned and countered, "I would think my display of biotics earlier would dispel such assumptions, but intelligence can be useful as well. Your real first name is Jennifer, I can find your last name if you ask politely."

Jack grimaced and demanded curiously, "What the...? How did you know?"

"I have my ways. I'm a very good information broker, years as an archeologist sure helped me getting ready for it. Is there something else you would like to know? I could probably find some interesting things if I put some effort into it."

Jack gestured dismissively, "Whatever. I'm out of here."

Liara nodded, "Suite yourself." She brought up her omni-tool and pressed a few buttons, "But I think you could find this interesting."

Jack's own omni-tool flashed and she looked at Liara curiously, "What?"

"A transcript from a hospital on Eden Prime dated 2165. It concerns a corrupt doctor who kidnaps a young baby girl from her mother, tricking the mother that the child died. The baby girl was you."

Jack's eyes widened and she looked at the asari incredulous but said nothing as she accessed the file and read it.

Liara continued, "Maybe you can find some answers after the war. Or not. Do as you wish. But considering the damage done during Saren's attack on Eden Prime, and all that's happening now around the galaxy, it might not be the easiest to find leads to follow up on."

Jack was startled by the revelation and looked up at Liara and said under her breath, "Maybe I'll do that."

"Anything else?"

Jack turned off her omni-tool and shook her head, "I'll cause trouble elsewhere."

"You do that," Liara said and turned around for her computer terminal again.

Jack turned and walked out of the room and into the mess hall again, once there she found Shepard in his armor standing near the tables and exchanged pleasantries with the students, asking how they felt and if they had settled in nicely.

"Shepard!" Jack called out and walked up.

The man in question turned and greeted, "Jack. You visited Liara?"

Jack snorted, "Thought the cheerleader was there but apparently she has new accommodations."

"Liara took over-"

Jack interrupted, "Yeah she told me. Look, can I have a word with you?"

"Sure," Shepard answered.

Jack gestured for him to follow her and they walked to the port observation room in silence. Jack walked over to the window and stopped, looking at the blue-shifted contrails of their FTL-flight. The door closed behind them and Shepard stopped next to her.

"It's good seeing you again Jack, didn't expect to find you at Grissom." He glanced at her new attire, "You look good."

Jack turned and grinned, "Watch it, what if your squeeze finds out your eyeing me up?"

"I'm not." Shepard said simply.

"You know, I gave you the chance to have sex with a real woman, and not some princess that'll break her nails in the process."

"She has broken plenty of nails on my back and she's never complained once," Shepard said evenly.

Jack hummed thoughtfully as she glanced at Shepard.

Shepard changed the subject and asked, "The students seemed to be alright despite what they've been through. How are they dealing with the war?"

Jack sighed and leaned her shoulder on the window and crossed her arms, "A month ago their biggest worry was getting laid. They're a bunch of teenagers being thrust into all this."

"They seemed liked they handled themselves pretty well at Grissom."

"Whatever I said on the shuttle ride back here, Kahlee was right. If you guys hadn't showed up we would have been dead meat. They're good at barriers and shit but not straight up fighting."

"They aren't ready I take it."

Jack shook her head, "Not in a long shot. They need more training, and training is something they won't be getting anymore." She sighed dejected, "And the Alliance wants them rolled into action, and some of the kids are gung-ho, they think they're marines. They want into the fight."

"Sanders talked about biotic artillery strikes."

Jack shrugged, "Sounds great in theory, any asshole comes in our way and we rip them apart. Maybe with some actual combat under their bolt they'll get their act together. But I want to ask you for a favor."

"What do you want?"

"I don't want them in combat, I want them in support roles, helping with barriers and shit. This war is going to get ugly. Being behind the lines in a support capacity lengthens their survival."

"You want me to...?"

"Talk them out of it, and maybe pull some strings with the Alliance before we hit the Citadel."

"Have you told them this?"

Jack scoffed, "Hell no! They need to believe in themselves. I did pick up a few things from your damn speeches." She shrugged and chuckled, "Some of your attitude rubbed off on me. I never had a family." She smiled fondly, "And those guys..."

Shepard smiled, "I understand."

Her eyes darkened briefly, "And if anyone screws with my students I'll tear them apart."

Shepard grinned, "Like the Collector base?"

"Oh yeah! Ripping apart those bug things. That was beautiful," Jack said reminiscing before she scoffed, "But holding that damn biotic bubble was exhausting as hell Shepard!"

"You're the best," Shepard praised with a smile.

Jack quipped, "Well, you could have sent the cheerleader instead, she could've stripped for them or something. She sure keeps your eyes on her so the bugs could have been distracted as well."

Shepard drawled unamused, "Jack..."

She shrugged, "Or you could have sent the salarian. He could've talked them to death."

Shepard said glum, "Mordin's dead."

"Really? How? When?" Jack asked surprised.

"Tuchanka. We cured the genophage to get the krogan on our side. He thought it would be a good idea to get inside the crumbling Shroud to distribute the cure... but if he didn't the genophage wouldn't have been cured," Shepard explained.

Jack sighed, "Shit. I liked him. That makes him sound even crazier then I remember him."

"At least he didn't sacrifice himself in vain. We got the makings of an alliance now."

"The krogan are hard in a fight," Jack mused.

"We will take a detour to Eden Prime. Admiral Hackett wants us there, some prothean artifact at some colony outpost was found and Cerberus is all over the place. I'm going to take a team to infiltrate, you wanna join?"

Jack smirked, "Hell yeah! I'll take any chance I get killing Cerberus."

Shepard nodded, "I know you would. Get some shut eye before the mission, we'll be in the system tomorrow morning."

"Right. You don't happen to have any spare clothes around? They kids want to wash their clothes and take a shower. And I'd like to do that as well."

"Yeah, down in the cargo bay there should be clothes in some crates in varying sizes. Ask James or Steve, they're running the show down there."

"Whom?"

"James Vega is the guy with the mohawk and Steve Cortez is our pilot, they're usually down in the cargo bay. Impossible to miss them."

"I'll do that. What did you want with Kahlee?"

"I talked to an old friend who is fighting on Earth. He established contact with the rest of the galaxy now and Sanders know him so I thought I'll let them talk for a while."

"That Anderson guy?"

Shepard nodded.

"Yeah, that's the one who hired me. Didn't think the Alliance was that forgiving you know? With all the stuff I've done. I blame you for this shit, you made me dependable."

Shepard chuckled, "Understood Jack. I'll get things sorted out about your kids with the Alliance on our return leg to the Citadel. And I'll talk to your students as well."

Jack nodded thankfully, "Thanks Shepard."

* * *

Standing in the shower Shepard let the exhaustion from the mission flow away with the warm water coming from the shower. He had returned to his quarters earlier and quickly removed his armor and placed it in his part of the closet, and the clothes he had worn beneath was thrown into the laundry bin. His body was still stiff and sore after the battle but he began to feel better. Miranda had already taken a shower earlier and was retiring for the evening.

He turned off the shower and dried himself with his tower and wrapped it around his waist and left the bathroom, he shivered a bit at the much colder air outside. He walked down to the closet and saw Miranda lying in the bed under the bed sheets pulled up to her chest. She noted him heading for the closet and smiled as she admired his damp and toned muscular body.

Shepard smirked when he stopped at the closet, "Enjoying the show?"

"I am," Miranda answered with watery eyes as they roamed his body.

Shepard chuckled as he turned to the closet and opened it. He began riffling through a drawer of boxers.

Miranda smirked and sat up and left the bed, the sheet fell away revealing her naked body. She stopped at the edge of the bed and reached out, grabbing his towel and yanked it off his waist in one swift move.

Shepard turned at the action and chided playfully, "Miranda!"

Shepard noted her naked body and was quickly mesmerized by the sight, her sizable breasts free of any constrains, and her body was accentuated by the light coming from the fish tank.

She threw the towel into the closet and gave him an amused smile as her eyes wandered downwards.

Shepard shook his head and continued playfully, "Tsk...tsk...tsk. I'm not some piece of meat you can do what you want with. I do have feelings."

"That's exactly what you are. You are mine to use and abuse," she answered teasingly. Her eyes never leaving what she craved. "And I don't care about your feelings."

"Oh? Well, you are my sex kitten Miri," Shepard countered teasingly.

"With considerable transit time to the Citadel...whatever can we do to pass time? The flights are always so boring," Miranda smiled silly and bit the tip of her tongue seductively.

Shepard chuckled and he explained, "We actually have taken a detour to Eden Prime."

Miranda's gaze left his manhood and she turned professional in a heartbeat, although unwillingly, "What? Why? I haven't heard anything."

Shepard tilted his head at the AI console past the fish tank, "Did you shut of EDI?"

She nodded guilty as charged, "I did." Miranda closed the distance and wrapped her arms around his shoulders and drew him closer in her embrace, pressing her body against his. She smiled mischievously, "I have...plans and I don't want her to disturb us."

Shepard let his arms snake around her body and his hands slowly wandered down behind her back, groping her butt which made Miranda giggle.

Her lover feigned annoyance, "Leave me alone, I don't like fast women."

Miranda snorted to suppress another giggle, "And I hate arrogant men."

Miranda mashed their lips together in a passionate kiss as she backed into the bed, guiding Shepard with her and they both fell into the soft sheets. They kissed, touched, laughed and soon engaged in intense love making. Afterwards they basked in the aftermath of their physical and emotional intimacy.

They slipped in under the bed sheets and Miranda settled closer to him and pressed her body against his. She propped her arm on the bed and rested her head on her hand as she caressed Shepard's chest with her other hand. Shepard slid an arm around the curvature of her body and caressed the small of her back with the tip of his fingers.

Miranda smiled and purred, "Satisfied?"

"Yes," Shepard said and smiled back contently.

Miranda planted a soft kiss on his lips, "As am I."

"You are quite amazing," Shepard continued and kissed her lips.

"Flatterer." Miranda grinned self-confident, "But of course I am."

"Very modest," Shepard said sardonically.

She shrugged, "It's just a matter of fact." Her hand on his chest slowly explored the rest of his body and she smirked, "I am amazing, beautiful, hot, sexy, alluring, sensational and a number of other definitions."

"Well, let me be a flatterer and be quiet when I am," Shepard teased and kissed her again.

"I'm not susceptible to flattering, Commander."

"You are actually, you doth-protest a little too much at times."

"Be quiet," Miranda chided.

Shepard smirked victoriously, "I rest my case."

She asked evenly, changing the subject where they left earlier, "So…about Eden Prime?"

Shepard turned professional and explained, "I talked to Admiral Hackett earlier and apparently Cerberus is after some artifact there and he wants us to stop them as we're in the neighborhood."

"What artifact?"

"There isn't a lot of intel available, communication is difficult with all frequencies out of Eden Prime jammed by distress signals, but I wager some kind of device or something. Maybe related to the Crucible?" Shepard shrugged, "I don't know."

Miranda sighed, "So Cerberus is up to no good again."

Shepard nodded, "Yeah. I'll take a small team with me tomorrow and infiltrate the colony outpost where the artifact is located."

"Who will you bring?"

Shepard explained, "I talked to Liara before I got here and she'll tag along. She is after all an expert on the protheans and that can come in hand. I had EDI inform James so he is in and I talked to Jack earlier and I'll bring her with me as well. I'll leave the Normandy in your capable hands. Unless you want to accompany us of course."

"A pretty diverse team." Miranda shook her head, "No that's fine. I'll stay here."

Despite her own feelings towards Jack, Miranda recognized the young biotic's prowess in battle. And finding her at Grissom was very surprising indeed. That the maladjusted ex-convict could develop attachment and care for others was...surprising. The lengths Jack had gone to protect the students was equally as surprising. Miranda had never thought she would witness something like that from Jack.

"And Councilor Esheel called just before we headed to Grissom. She wants to see me on the Citadel."

"Oh? Did she say what she wanted, or was it about the genophage?"

Shepard shook his head, "No, but it was something else she wanted to discuss in person, it seemed to be something important. They've apparently found something. I think we might have a new mission on our hands. Esheel's already voiced her concerns about the genophage."

"So nothing different at all compared to Dalatrass Linron's stance?"

"No, although Esheel seems to be more lenient in recognizing the actual threat we're facing. Although that's no real improvement as she seems just as stuck in the past as Linron," Shepard explained annoyed. "But maybe they will change their mind soon. The krogan are well on their way to launching an offensive on Palaven and turian higher ups are optimistic."

"I really hope you are right about the krogan. I would have thought it wouldn't be this easy," Miranda said concerned

"Me neither, but it seems that way. But the turians understands that they need the krogan because they are about to help retake turian cities. Perhaps when the salarians face a similar choice they will have a change of heart. But perhaps we don't need them to shift their views. The shift in their electorate could be enough. I'm not an expert on the salarian political system, but if the salarian people see the damage the policies of their leaders do to their efforts to survive, maybe those politicians won't be in charge for long."

Miranda mused, "I hope it will happen sooner rather than later, and I hope it's not just blind change from the krogan but that is change for the better. The more time passes the harder it is to look how we may be missing precious opportunities because of someone's error. I was skeptical towards the cure, but after listening to you for some time I'm not sure anymore. But perhaps that's just desperation talking."

Shepard turned to his side and wrapped his arms around her petite body and pulled her closer, coaxing her to turn her back against him. Miranda placed her arms on his and hummed contently as Shepard drew her into his embrace, he took a breath of the scent of Miranda's hair and snuggled close to her shoulder, thoroughly enjoying her presence.

After a few moments Shepard said, "I talked to Anderson earlier."

"Admiral Anderson?"

Shepard joked, "No. Mr. Anderson." Shepard chuckled, "Yes. Admiral. They had managed to establish off-world communications. They found a QEC at a base."

"How is he doing?" Miranda asked not taking note of his joking.

Miranda knew of their close relationship, John looked up to the man as a mentor of sorts. She knew the man from reports and stories, but it seemed John and the Admiral both shared similar values and view on honor and loyalty. They also both possessed strong moral codes, although the Admiral's seemed more rigorous. But even with those differences both seemed to respect each other's beliefs. Anderson was by no means a fool, but she considered him rather straight-forward, much like Jacob had been. John struck her as more sophisticated in his views. John had at one point many powerful friends but among the Alliance brass it was Anderson, along with Hackett, that remained more or less the only ones who were open in their defense after Bahak. Shepard hadn't talked to her at all about the Admiral, and if John had been truthful with Sanders earlier then he believed in the Admiral's ability to survive. And it seemed the battle hardened Admiral knew how to take care of himself on an occupied world… as much as it was possible.

Or maybe John kept it to himself not to...bother her with his troubles. To Miranda's annoyance she knew John had a tendency to keep how he felt from her. But as much as she sometimes resented that, she understood his need for privacy, because she herself had a lot of problems sharing what she felt.

They both often favored psychical comfort over discussing what they felt.

And sometimes it wasn't just about the difficulty in opening up. She did sometimes fear that despite all the indications to the contrary John might become disinterested if he would see the real her. Her strength was one of her traits that had drawn him to her. She suspected that he might have similar feelings.

But they both tried their best, and since her return to the Normandy they did give each other glimpses of what they felt inside.

"Major cities are being destroyed, people are on the run. There is very little communication and no coordination of the overall resistance effort. Anderson is trying to do what he can in his sector, but the resistance has gone underground. Things are not looking rosy," Shepard explained.

"At least he is alive."

"Yeah," Shepard sighed and then kissed her bare shoulder. "It seems Anderson and Sanders are a couple."

"Hmm, yes I got that impression from the Lieutenant when we talked to her."

"Miri..." Shepard said softly and he hugged her as close as he could.

"Yes?" Miranda whispered.

Shepard didn't say anything for a few moments and Miranda knew something wasn't right.

He continued quietly, "It means a lot to me that you are here with me. London turned out much harder than I thought it would be. It was difficult waiting for what was going to happen while in a cell, cut off from any information of where you were or if you were okay. I missed you." Shepard took a deep breath and exhaled. "Later the burden of command weighed heavily on me. It's very daunting when a single mistake can mean the death of millions, and the pressure that first week was very hard for me, and I really wasn't myself."

He moved an arm on top of hers and took her hand in his, intertwining their fingers and continued in a whisper. "I don't know if you have any idea how relieved I was when you contacted me and when I found you on the Citadel. You helped me regain my balance, and even if there is no time for anything else it's good to come back in the end of the day to a warm bed." He swallowed a lump that formed in his throat and took a quivering breath before he continued, "I love waking up to you, and the times we spend together are the only ones in which I can call blissful, and I hope... I help you to."

Miranda thought she knew all that, but hearing those words affected her greatly. She turned in his embrace and hugged him. She planted a kiss on his lips and said, "I missed you to…more than I thought I ever would. The time when you had gone to stand trial was very difficult for me." She shook her head slowly, "And I never wanted you to leave in the first place, you bastard."

"I know, I'm sorry. I didn't want to…"

"It doesn't matter. We're together now," Miranda interrupted and smiled heartfelt.

Shepard nodded, "That we are." He closed his eyes as he touched his forehead to hers.

A silence settled in between the two.

Miranda leaned back a bit. She smiled and quipped, "Who ever knew Commander Shepard was such a softie and snuggler."

Shepard chuckled, "I just can't keep my hands away from you. I'm unable to resist you."

Miranda smiled victoriously, "I know."

"You know, I'm surprised what a softie you've become Miri." Shepard grinned, "You've thawed Ms. Ice Queen."

Miranda scoffed and feigned annoyance, "Not if you continue like that."

Shepard chuckled, "Understood."

Miranda smirked at the power she wielded, "You are so obedient." She rewarded his behavior with a kiss which Shepard gladly reciprocated, their tongues grazing each other.

Shepard pulled back with a content smile and broke the news, "I got promoted earlier by Anderson and Hackett."

Miranda looked at him surprised, "Really?"

"Yeah. Staff Commander John Shepard for my efforts allying the turians and the krogan."

"Have you announced it to the rest of ship?"

Shepard shook his head, "It won't be official until a few days from now, plus I'll get my new officer pins for my dress blues on our next return to the Citadel and by then it will be official."

"But you rarely wear dress blues." She grinned, "Pity really."

Shepard chuckled, "Women do like men in uniforms."

Miranda smiled, "Mh-hmmm. I guess congratulations are in order." She leaned in and she captured their lips in a passionate kiss, one of her hands began slowly exploring his toned body without any resistant and she purred happily as their kissing continued.

* * *

Miranda was in the kitchen and preparing breakfast for both John and herself the following morning. It was empty for the moment and she rather foolishly hoped she'd be able to share breakfast with her paramour alone but knew that was unlikely as the Normandy would exit the relay within a couple of hours and Shepard's infiltration team would prepare before the mission. She had entertained the idea that they could eat in their quarters in the future, thus she could be alone with him.

She had opted to make a healthy dish for both of them with a lot of fruits, berries, yoghurt, tea, juice and some porridge. She had decided to stay away from the steak-and-eggs breakfast for John which he occasionally ate, something which probably had been drilled into his head since boot camp.

She was smiling to herself as she thought of the night they just spent together, day-dreaming a bit about John. She returned to reality when she heard footsteps, she glanced at the direction of the footsteps and saw Jack and Sanders enter the mess hall heading for the kitchen. Miranda noted curiously that Jack wore Alliance BDU's for the moment, slightly too big for the smaller framed biotic.

Jack called out tauntingly when she and Sanders arrived at the kitchen, "Morning cheerleader."

Miranda lamented, _this day which started so well._

Sanders was curious by Jack's behavior, but instead extended her hand and greeted much friendlier, "I didn't really get to introduce myself yesterday. Lieutenant Kahlee Sanders. I'd like to extend my thanks for aiding in our escape."

Jack continued past the other women towards the fridge in the corner and opened it. She began sifting through for something to eat.

Miranda greeted Sanders cordially and shook her hand, "Of course. Miranda Lawson."

Jack chimed in absentminded while she was rummaging through the fridge, "Also known as cheerleader or princess."

Miranda ignored Jack who apparently had found what she wanted for breakfast.

Sanders continued, "So what do you do here Ms. Lawson?" She glanced at Miranda's civilian attire of expensive designer blouse and pants, "You're not Alliance I gather."

Without missing a beat Miranda said, "Civilian contractor. Helping the Commander with various administrative tasks, tactics and also field work when needed."

Jack brought out several food items in her arms and placed it on the counter behind Miranda and Sanders.

The ex-convict snickered, "Civilian contractor my ass."

"If you don't mind me asking, what led you to the Alliance?" Sanders asked, also ignoring Jack. It was apparent to her that neither of the two women got along and had some history.

It was no point in disregarding the truth and Miranda said evenly, "I was with Cerberus up until last year when we took down the Collectors."

Sanders were visibly surprised, "Really? I heard some of the students mumbled something about Cerberus last night but I assumed that was about the Commander. I've never been this close to a Cerberus operative, they usually shoot at me."

Jack walked over to the kitchen counter and reached up to the cupboard above and grabbed a loaf of bread. She quipped, "Yeah, her toy turned her and then she helped herself into his bed." She turned to Miranda, "At least you don't wear that cat suit anymore."

Miranda turned and countered, "Really? You give me grief about my clothes? You wore practically nothing last year. Or yesterday."

Jack returned to the counter and began preparing the slices of bread which she would have spread of butter, cheese and ham on. She shrugged, "I have all my art to show off." She gestured at Miranda's chest, "You just parade around with those two."

Miranda scoffed, "Trying to compensate for something, Jack?"

Jack snorted and pursed her lips, "Why do you even bother being in a relationship, princess? To get furiously fucked you don't need to be," she continued in an over-the-top girly delivery and fluttered her eyes, "in love."

Miranda chided, "How about not being lonely, bitter and miserable, and instead let someone in close to be happy with?" Miranda forced a sweet smile.

Jack snorted, "To soft, and things never work out like that. But you can try your best to make him glued to your pussy."

"He is so glued right now that if anyone tried to injure me in any way their life expectancy would be short," Miranda said glaring pointedly at Jack.

Sanders was getting a little uneasy, "Why not bury the hatches for breakfast at least?"

Miranda nodded, "Sounds like an excellent idea, Lieutenant."

From the other end of the mess hall nearing the kitchen they heard Shepard's voice, "Morning ladies."

"Commander," Sanders turned and greeted.

"Hey Shepard," Jack said as if nothing had happened.

Miranda remained impassive but was glad Shepard had arrived; she hoped they could disappear and eat breakfast away from the likes of Jack.

_Unless John have other ideas._

Shepard stopped on the opposite side of the counter from Jack and glanced at her and inquired evenly, "Everything alright Jack? Not going to flung chairs around I hope."

Jack chuckled and took a bite of a slice of bread, "Relax, I'm only catching up with your girlfriend. We're all friends here."

Miranda looked at Jack and snorted. She turned to Shepard and said friendly, "You're just in time John. Breakfast is ready and we can return to our cabin."

Shepard nodded and took the hint, he understood Miranda wasn't keen to socialize more with Jack. He didn't expect either of the biotics to be friends, and despite what little he had heard from their discussion at least they had behaved civilly.

"Of course," Shepard said and walked past Sanders and picked up the breakfast tray on the kitchen counter which Miranda had prepared. He flashed Miranda an appreciative smile before he looked up at Jack and asked evenly, "You are still on for the mission?"

Jack nodded and was preparing more slices of bread, "Yeah sure."

"Good, we're only a couple of hours away until we exit FTL. I'll see you two around."

Sanders nodded with a smile, "Of course Commander." She turned to the kitchen to prepare some food as well.

Miranda grabbed her tray and the couple left the kitchen.

* * *

**_Quote: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade._**

**_I can't really see Miranda and Jack being friends, but I can see them as civil and behave, one way or the other. But something like that would need to grow a bit. Even in the Citadel DLC they bicker at first (or continue depending on player choice)._**

**_Assistance on a couple of places in the beginning, Shepard/Jack scene, the Shepard/Miranda scene and the end by xXserialkillerXx._**

**_Officer ranks in the Alliance (from ME Wikia)_**

**_2nd Lieutenant _**

**_1st Lieutenant _**

**_Staff Lieutenant _**

**_Lieutenant Commander _**

**_Staff Commander _**

**_C_****_aptain/Major _**

**_Rear Admiral/General _**

**_Admiral _**

**_Fleet Admiral _**


	39. Eden Prime

The Kodiak jolted a bit as it flew through the atmosphere. Cortez established level flight and continued towards the mission area. Through the onboard cameras the occupants in the passenger compartment could see the extensive green mountainous landscape of the agrarian world on the monitors.

The four-man squad was seated and was doing final checks on equipment and weapons. Shepard glanced over at Jack, who had done away with her temporary outfit of Alliance BDU's and instead opted for her previous outfit as she claimed it gave her better maneuverability during combat. The biotic had scavenged an Eagle automatic-pistol and a M23 Katana from the Normandy's armory.

It felt surreal to Shepard being back where it all began over three years earlier. In a very similar situation yet again, securing another prothean artifact. At least there were no Reapers in the system. For the moment at least.

The Kodiak would land at a space port in the outskirts of a settlement where the dig site was located, about a ten minute hike through a forested area. The plan was to infiltrate the area without drawing attention to themselves so they could recon the dig site before they would enter it.

Jack sat across from Shepard and asked, "So, it was here all the crap started?"

Shepard nodded and said uninspired, "Yeah. That beacon literally imprinted nightmare stuff in my brain."

"That's some loco shit, no?" Vega asked from his seat.

"It was. Thankfully the nightmares became less frequent as time passed," Shepard responded and turned to Vega sitting next to Jack.

Liara lamented, "And once again Eden Prime is under attack. Just as the colonists where getting their life's straightened out Cerberus shows up."

"They deserve better," Vega said glumly.

"It feels so long ago. Far longer than three years," Shepard murmured. "There were lots of dead civilians, and I lost a marine too. Jenkins. It was grim all over."

"Whatever Cerberus have gotten hold of must be important if they invaded a colony," Liara surmised.

Shepard agreed, "Definitely. And I want that artifact in our hands. Do you think it's related to the Crucible, Liara?"

The asari shrugged, "I don't know. And the briefing files from Admiral Hackett didn't tell much either so now it's all just academic at best."

Cortez called out from the cockpit, "Commander. We're about to land at the space port near the dig site. Scans indicate that there is no one nearby."

Shepard rose from the seat, "Understood Lieutenant. Bug out and await further instructions."

"Yes Commander."

"Alright everyone, get ready to move," Shepard ordered and walked up to the door. He activated his navigation computer on the omni-tool with the coordinates for the dig site and reached for his rifle.

The others rose from their seat and joined Shepard at the door with weapons in hand.

The shuttle descended as Cortez brought it in for landing. The shuttle door opened and Shepard could gaze out over the landscape and the spaceport while the shuttle was brought closer to the ground, in the distance high towers dotted the landscape. Once the shuttle touched down on the platform Shepard and the others darted out and quickly secured the area.

A few moments later Cortez lifted off the platform and the Kodiak sped away into the distance.

Vega informed as he scanned the area in front of them, "It looks clear Shepard."

Shepard agreed, "It does."

Shepard turned around and took a short moment to gaze at the vast area in front of him. On the other side of the valley he could see another spaceport in the distance and specifically the platform where he had been imprinted with the prothean vision over three years earlier. It was an eerie feeling for Shepard seeing the vast landscape between the two spaceports which one once had been scorched by Sovereign as the Reaper had lifted off the ground, but now it had all been restored and it looked like nothing had ever happened.

Jack's surprised voice from behind him halted Shepard's musings, "No way! Look!"

Vega turned to Jack and saw what had taken interest in. A 5 meter tall bronze statue of Shepard in his N7 armor with an M8 Avenger-assault rifle in hand held close to his chest was located on a block with a plaque overlooking the platform. Vega walked over and was soon joined by Liara as well. His companions were amazed by the sight.

Vega chuckled, "Check out the statue. The Hero of Eden Prime."

Shepard sighed and shook his head. He turned around as well and surveyed the statue at the end of the platform. He wasn't surprised, he had heard about the statue after he died. Raised in his honor.

"What does it say?" Liara asked jovial.

Vega read of the plaque spirited, "With valor and sacrifice Lieutenant Commander John Shepard led untold successes on Eden Prime defeating the geth invaders led by rogue SPECTRE agent Saren Arterius in 2183. Always Faithful, Always Forward."

Jack exclaimed teasingly, "Hey! We need to get the hero to pose in front of this thing and snap some photos!"

Vega was caught in the moment and holstered his rifle and began fiddling with his omni-tool, "Awesome idea! Print it out and enlarge it and put it up somewhere in the Normandy."

Shepard looked at them unamused and spoke loudly, "We've more important things to worry about. Cerberus. Prothean artifact. Remember?"

His three companions turned to Shepard.

Vega cleared his throat bashful, "Oh. Yeah, right." He reached for his rifle.

"We're coming Shepard," Liara said and regained her composure.

Jack scoffed, "Eh, you're no fun Shepard. Lighten up."

"We've to get to the dig site, come on." Shepard said calmly and gestured for them to follow him.

The squad left the platform and walked past a motor pool of civilian land-based vehicles and followed a path to a hill of overgrown tropical vegetation. Staying away from the roads would minimize the risk of being detected. After a ten minute trek they emerged in a clearing on a hill overlooking a vast valley with a lake. Around the hillsides there were several settlements of prefab buildings with a road connecting the settlements. Most prefab buildings were single units while others had been placed on top of pillars to create a two story building with ladders leading up. And less than a kilometer further in the distance on the other side of the valley they saw the dig site adjacent to two settlements sprawled across the hillsides. Shepard dropped down on one knee and holstered his assault rifle and instead fetched his M29 sniper rifle from his back harness. He aimed it down range and surveyed the dig site in the distance through the powerful scope.

His companions assembled near him, they all kept a low profile around the trees and bushes to remain undetected.

"See anything, Loco?" Vega asked kneeling next to Shepard.

Shepard said amazed, "Yeah, look at that, prothean ruins sticking up from the ground like some old bones."

"Let me see," Liara said and held out her hand to take the rifle from Shepard. Her voice was full with excitement.

Shepard gave the rifle to Liara who surveyed the dig site through the scope. Her scientific mind was racing with theories about what she was seeing. She wished she'd found these ruins under different circumstances, she couldn't help but to wonder what mysteries she could unravel.

Vega glanced at the asari archeologist and deadpanned, "Hey Liara. You ever found dinosaurs while you're digging around?"

Liara was glued to the scope and begun to berate the young marine almost like she was talking to a child, "No. Dinosaurs and similar fossils would be paleontology. I'm an archeologist and I study artifacts left by sapient beings."

Vega grinned a bit as she hadn't caught on to his teasing.

Liara continued oblivious, "The two fields are completely different and..." Liara trailed off and realized with half a chuckle, "you were joking."

Vega quipped, "Hey, I just like dinosaurs." He got excited when he explained, "When I was kid there was this old movie I used to watch when they brought back dinosaurs through genetic engineering and then they-"

Jack who was kneeling near Vega slapped the back of his head with her hand, "Focus!"

"Ow! What the-?" Vega protested and turned to Jack and frowned. He rubbed his head.

Shepard chuckled, "I agree with Jack. You can reminisce when we're back on the Normandy." Shepard turned to Liara, "Can you tell us anything about these ruins?"

Liara professionally explained, "Early Seventh Dynasty, built by the Sun Sect but financed at least partially by the Imperial Regent."

"That, uh, doesn't really tell us anything useful." Shepard said at a loss.

Liara shrugged, "That's why I didn't bring it up."

Liara handed Shepard the rifle who surveyed the settlements in the valley. He saw activity on the farthest settlements but he couldn't discern any details at that range. He moved the scope to the closest settlement a few hundred meters below and saw a flatbed truck and an APC with Cerberus colors drive through the neighborhood.

"We got Cerberus activity in the settlement below us."

"They see us?" Liara asked and looked down the hill.

"Don't think so. They're stopping near a large building," Shepard answered evenly in a low voice. "I see some guards and people in civilian attire dismounting."

Shepard watched keenly the events unfolding below. The troops spread out and barked out orders to the civilians who walked towards the building supervised by two troopers.

Shepard explained the situation to his companions, "I count ten guards and four civilians, two guards escorted the civilians into the building."

A minute later the civilians emerged through the entrance carrying boxes and walked towards the flatbed truck.

"It seems the civilians are moving equipment and boxes to the truck from the building," Shepard informed.

"Forced labor?" Liara asked.

"Possibly, the troopers are keeping a watchful eye on them."

"We can't just leave the colonists, Commander." Vega pointed out.

"I know, but the artifact is our priority," Shepard answered evenly. A few moments passed as Shepard was contemplating the situation, "Alright, let's get those civilians out of there and see if we can learn anything."

Jack said approvingly, "Finally. Let's kill us some Cerberus lackeys."

Shepard led his squad through the forest and they stopped near the end of the tree line right outside the settlement of prefab buildings. The squad took up cover behind the trees.

Shepard whispered and laid up the plan, "Liara get a singularity near the three troopers in the back near the wall; Jack detonate it with a warp."

"Yes, Shepard." - "You got it boss."

Shepard turned to Vega next to him, "You and I will attack the troopers near the truck, make your shots count."

"Roger that."

Shepard turned to Jack, "No shockwave this close to non-combatants, Jack."

"Yeah yeah," Jack answered abrasive.

Shepard brought up his M29 and aimed through the scope and found a target, a trooper standing on the gangway on the one-story prefab building which the colonists where walking in and out of.

"There could be troops inside the building, be ready for them as well. Wait for my go."

The three others acknowledged Shepard and readied themselves.

Shepard placed the crosshairs on the trooper's head and squeezed the trigger and a three round burst ripped through the trooper's helmet and instantly killed him and he fell down on the walkway.

The sudden eruption of gun fire sent the four colonists scurrying for cover amongst the crates near the flatbed truck as the Cerberus troops darted to cover.

Liara placed a singularity at her targets which lifted them of the ground, and a moment later the unstable dark energy detonated by a warp unleashed by Jack. The three troopers died in the biotic explosion as they were hurled into walls nearby.

Vega fired his Valkyrie-rifle at the troopers and Centurions heading for cover behind barricades and crates, he killed one Centurion with several bursts and injured a trooper who managed to find cover.

Shepard had found another unsuspecting trooper in the open who was to slow to find cover and was duly killed by a burst from Shepard's rifle to his head.

"Come here!" Jack called out tauntingly as she used pull on a trooper behind a crate which lifted him of the ground. He cried out helplessly as he floated away while Shepard, Vega and Liara opened fire at him and quickly killed the trooper. The body floated away for a few more seconds before the body fell to the ground as the biotic effect wore off.

The last remaining trooper peered out of cover and opened fire at the tree line where Shepard's squad was, but Shepard quickly snapped his crosshairs to the head of the trooper and with the pull of the trigger another three-round burst was fired from his M29 and killed the enemy.

The gunfire died down but the silence was soon broken as the unmistaken voices of Cerberus troopers was heard coming out from the prefab building nearby and two enemies ran out the door, but Liara instantly reacted and halted their advance with a singularity laid down in the doorway, capturing them within it. And with a repeat performance, Jack unleashed another warp and grinned satisfied at the outcome as the troopers were killed in the explosion.

"Move up!" Shepard ordered and rushed out of the tree line with the others towards the small courtyard between the prefab buildings. The squad quickly surveyed the scene and the fallen Cerberus troops.

Jack walked past the flatbed truck between the crates where the colonists were taking cover or lying on the ground, sobbing and praying in fear. They didn't dare to leave the cover of the crates. Jack walked up the steps to the gangway and looked at the fallen troopers in the gangway; one of them gasped in pain and tried to crawl away. Jack leveled her shotgun and unloaded several shots in the trooper's back which ended his life.

"Clear up!" Jack called out.

"Clear down!" Vega chimed in.

Jack hurried down the steps and rejoined the squad who lowered their weapons

Shepard turned to the flatbed truck and the crates nearby and spoke up, "It's safe now. They're dead. I'm Commander Shepard of the Systems Alliance."

A surprised female voice called out from behind a crate, "Commander Shepard?"

"Who are you?" Shepard asked.

The dark haired woman in question, wearing a white lab coat, rose up from behind the crate slowly. She stammered, she was anxious and the adrenaline was still flowing in her body, "Doc...doctor Warren. I was here when the geth attacked three years ago. I hid in a shed but you and your companions saved my life and that of my assistant."

The details had escaped Shepard but he remembered a woman and a man in a shed which had been swarming with husks.

"Alright, come out of there, but keep those hands so I can see them," Shepard informed evenly, he turned to his squad and ordered, "Jack, James, cover us."

"You got it Loco." - "Right."

Vega and Jack turned and found cover amongst the crates and barricades, covering the court yard and the path leading down the hill to the settlement below.

Liara walked to Shepard and stopped near him.

"Are there more troops nearby?" Shepard asked quickly.

Warren shook her head as she and her friends approached Shepard, "No, we were accompanied by ten soldiers, and if you've killed them we should be safe for now. There are more down at the dig site and the settlements."

Warren calmed down as she stopped near Shepard with the three other colonists soon leaving their cover as well. In the presence of Shepard and his squad they were calmer but still shaken by their ordeal.

Shepard asked Warren, "What's happening here?"

Warren explained, "I was studying the prothean ruins - there was so much more we could learn from this place once we had started to rebuild. And then Cerberus landed days ago. They seized the dig site by force and killed the guards and forced us - the scientists - to help them if we wanted to live. They threatened our families and friends living in the settlements down the valley. They have also jammed communications. There's been attacks on Cerberus in the area by the resistance, but as of yet those attacks have been futile and always repelled by Cerberus."

Shepard could tell the woman was genuinely scared for her life, she was shaking and she fiddled with her fingers. The three others were quietly whimpering and were equally as frightened.

Liara asked concerned, "What is Cerberus doing to the colonists?"

Warren explained, "They're kept in check by patrols, some have been taken away to another research camp on the other side of the planet. Cerberus have pacified several settlements and imposed a curfew."

"And what are you doing here?" Shepard asked in a calming voice and gestured towards the large flatbed truck with crates.

"The Cerberus scientists needs more super computers to hack the artifact, several computers have crashed trying to process all the information. We were also retrieving other scientific material for them."

Liara chimed in curious, "What is the artifact exactly?"

"Some kind of stasis pod. Whatever is contained inside dates back to the prothean era. They told us to find a way to open it." Warren sighed, "And we discovered how to. And when we told them... they said it was time to cover their tracks."

One of the other colonial scientists, a male, explained horrified, "We think they're preparing to leave with the artifact and open it elsewhere."

Shepard remained impassive but he knew exactly what Cerberus was planning, they were going to purge all the colonists in the valley so no one could reveal what had been found here.

"Where is the pod?" Liara asked.

Warren pointed, "Follow the path down the hill to the settlement below. They moved it to a prefab lab away from the dig site. If you want whatever's inside, you need to hurry."

Suddenly a large explosion was heard in the distance from the other side of the valley, the intense heat and the shockwave obliterated the dig site and the settlement, killing anyone present as the blast wall expanded on the plateau.

Vega called out terrified, "Shepard, you need to see this!"

Jack hissed, "Shit! Fucking Cerberus!"

The colonists gasped in horror seeing their homes destroyed, and most likely all their friends and families left behind were killed in the blast. One of the scientists fell down on his knees and cried out in agony loosing his family, the two others quickly knelt down near him and tried to their best to comfort him.

Shepard and Liara had already instinctively turned to witness what was happening when they first heard the explosion.

"Goddess," Liara whispered sadly.

Shepard mumbled dejected, "God damn it."

Warren was aghast and on the verge to tears and suddenly gasped horrified when she realized, "They're doing this because of me. Because I cooperated."

Shepard turned around and ordered the scientists, "You've to leave now. Cerberus is going to kill anyone who ever saw that pod or knows about it."

The male scientist on his knees cried out, "NO! My family is down there." He rose to his feet with intent to run down to the settlement but Shepard sidestepped in front of him and put his arm out and planted his glowed hand on the man's chest to stop him.

Shepard spoke commanding, "No, if you go down there you'll be killed, you've to go. Now!"

Warren walked up and implored emotionally, draping her arms around the scientist, "The Commander is right, Josh. We've to leave."

The man started screaming in agony and flailing his arms trying to get past Shepard. The two other male scientists grabbed Josh and pulled him away, subduing him as they began to walk away, physically dragging him with them.

Warren turned one last time and said appreciatively, "Thanks for saving my life once again Commander." And with that she ran away and joined her companions as they headed towards the forest, struggling with the crying scientist.

Liara asked appalled, "What are we going to do?"

"We find that pod and extract it," Shepard said evenly.

Further down the hill Shepard and the others heard muffled gun shots and screams.

Vega turned from the ghastly scene unfolding in the distance, the entire plateau where the dig site and the settlement once had been was now wiped out, only ruins after the prefab buildings remained

He asked Shepard outraged at all the death, "We're just gonna let those colonists get killed?"

Shepard turned and walked over to Vega and Jack with Liara in tow and explained conflicted, "That's not our mission Lieutenant. We're here to get that artifact, we'll try to get any colonists out of harm's way, but that pod is our primary objective. Understood? We can't let Cerberus get possession of it. The colonists death will be in vain if Cerberus leaves with it."

Vega understood Shepard's reasoning and nodded dejected, "Understood Commander."

"Let's go," Shepard ordered.

Shepard led the three others through the court yard of prefab buildings to the edge of the plateau. From the hill they were able to look down at the settlement a hundred meters down the path which was in total chaos; Cerberus squads killed anyone in sight as the colonists tried to flee or take cover inside the buildings.

Yet another massive explosion startled Shepard and his companions as it rocked the valley. On their left on the far side of the lake, another settlement was evaporated and the entire lake was blanketed in smoke and debris from the explosion.

"Those bastards!" Vega cursed. "What kind of people kill indiscriminately like that?"

"Cerberus does," Jack answered angrily, "That's the shit they've been doing for decades."

Shepard ordered rapidly, "James, take Liara and Jack with you and head down there and take out the Cerberus death squads. I'll provide cover fire with my M29."

"Gladly," Vega said riled by the slaughter unfolding around him.

Shepard knelt down at the barricade and aimed his weapon down range while Vega's squad rushed forward down the path.

Shepard began engaging targets with his rifle and fired down into the settlement and killing several troopers, giving terrified civilians time to flee the neighborhood. After dispatching several troopers, Cerberus finally found Shepard's position and began firing up the hillside. Shepard moved behind cover of the barricade as bullets hit the barricade.

Down in the outskirts of the settlement Vega and his squad had finally entered the settlement and moved through an alley and engaged the Cerberus troops occupied with firing at Shepard's location.

As the small arms fire against Shepard died down he peered out of cover again and proceeded to search for targets between the buildings, and in the court yard in the middle of the settlement he saw several military type vehicles and trucks parked outside a two-story building which had large red letters on the wall near an entrance that read 'main laboratory', it was likely the location where Cerberus had moved the prothean artifact.

Shepard saw four troops in the court yard hiding behind the vehicles, protecting the building. Word had likely gotten out to the rest of the Cerberus troops in the settlement that they were under attack. As the trained sniper Shepard was he quickly disposed of the four troops.

The gunfire from within the settlement had died out and through his scope Shepard saw Vega's squad take up position in an intersection near the court yard.

Shepard radioed Vega, "Lieutenant, what's your situation?"

Vega responded, _"We have cleared several buildings and alleys into the settlement Commander and it appears clear. We also took down several squads who tried to kill civilians. The surviving civilians fled into the forest."_

"Understood James. I'll return to you, standby."

_"Copy that Commander."_

Shepard rose from cover and headed to the road leading down the hill. He holstered his M29 and accessed his Omni-tool and brought up the blue force tracker and could see Vega's and the others signals superimposed on a map of the court yard downloaded from EDIs' scans. He quickly retrieved his assault rifle instead.

After just a couple of minutes Shepard rejoined his squad as he not only followed his omni-tool but also the trail of Cerberus bodies littering the streets through the neighborhood.

"Welcome Shepard," Jack said ecstatic with her back against the wall next to Liara. "Just like the old days, but now instead we're killing Cerberus for their atrocities and not working with them."

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself," Shepard said evenly and stopped near Vega. "Any hostiles?"

Vega was peering out of the corner of the building with his rifled raised, "Not what we've seen. I think that building at the far end is that lab."

Shepard nodded, "Yeah, it is. Let's head over there."

"On you Shepard," Vega said.

Shepard led his squad through the alley towards the court yard. They quickly cleared it and moved past the vehicles and up the stairs to the closed entrance. They stacked up at the door with two on each side.

Shepard had Jack behind him.

"Get ready. James flash the room when I open it. Jack and I'll take point" Shepard said.

"Copy," Vega said and pulled out a flashbang grenade from one of his pouches.

Shepard swiped his over the interface and the door opened with a hiss but he was quickly greeted by a hail of bullets that was shot in their direction, hitting the doorway. There was Cerberus occupants in the building

Vega tossed the flashbang grenade into the room and a moment later the grenade detonated inside with a loud bang and a bright flash. The people inside screamed in agony as they were blinded and deafened by the effects of the grenade.

Shepard rushed through the doorway first with his weapon at the ready with Jack trailing him with her shotgun in hand poised to kill anyone in her sights.

They entered a lobby with overturned couches, tables and workstations for cover. Behind the cover a squad of four Cerberus troops and two scientists had taken cover, but now they were disoriented by the flashbang. The lobby led to a small kitchen, dining hall and an entertainment room further into the prefab building.

Shepard was about to open fire when Jack's body glowed as she unleashed a shockwave which traversed the lobby and knocked the Cerberus personnel across the room and exposed them. Shepard and Jack pushed further into the lobby and opened fire at the incapacitated Cerberus personnel. A moment later Vega and Liara entered through the doorway and engaged the enemies as well. Within a few seconds all the hostiles were lying dead on the floor.

Shepard and Jack moved further into the prefab building and cleared the other rooms but they found no more hostiles.

"All clear," Shepard reported in the entertainment room.

Liara and Vega and cleared the rest of the lobby and she called out, "John! I've found an entrance leading to the labs."

Shepard and Jack quickly returned and they found Liara standing at a doorway leading into a clean room.

"Alright, come on. We've to hurry before Cerberus sends reinforcements." Shepard said and walked ahead into the clean room with the others.

The door closed behind them and they were swept by a contamination beam which sterilized them from contaminants. After a few moments the door on the other end of the clean room opened.

Shepard and the others left the clean room and entered a hall of tables placed along the sides of the room with monitors, laptops and keyboards on them. There was a large farm of super computers in the far end of the room and several tables were riddled with prothean artifacts, scientific equipment and documentation. There was also a wall full of monitors which showed garbled images. But what caught everyone's attention was the black stasis pod in the middle of the room.

Liara was amazed by the sight and breathed astonished, "Goddess, it can't be possible...? It's...a stasis pod for a prothean."

Jack looked at Liara incredulous, "You mean those bug things we hunted last year?"

Liara holstered her submachine gun and walked closer to the pod. Liara started her omni-tool and began scanning the pod.

Liara shook her head but kept her gaze on the pod, "No, a real actual prothean. Unmodified by the Reapers. It's been kept in stasis for 50 000 years. It's still alive."

Shepard walked up to Liara and the pod and was equally as surprised, "That can't be possible."

"It can, if it had enough power. You remember the stasis pods from Ilos, the only reason those had shut down was because they had lost power. This one hasn't," Liara explained. "This was likely found in a similar bunker as on Illos."

Vega and Jack assembled around the pod as well.

Vega asked, "So what, we're going to carry this thing out to the Kodiak? It has to weigh hundreds of kilos."

Jack shrugged, "Cerberus moved it here somehow. Surely we can as well. They probably placed it onto some kind of trolley with a lift of sorts."

Liara exclaimed excited, "Think of what we can learn from this prothean!"

"What can you tell us about the protheans?" Shepard asked.

"With your exposure to the prothean cipher I bet you know just as much as I do, John. The Prothean Empire spanned the galaxy, uplifting countless of species to join their galactic community."

Vega asked uninspired, "Just like the salarians did to the krogan. So they could evolve faster?"

Liara nodded, "Yes. They studied other species if the ruins on Mars or even here are any indication. They wanted other species to learn. It's clear that they priced knowledge, growth and cooperation with the rest of the galaxy."

With the little evidence left after the prothean empire, anything scholars had come up with was at best theories, and Shepard also believed that what Liara just said sounded a little to...nice.

Shepard said, "I doubt they established an empire which spanned the galaxy just by playing nice."

"Of course, they must have had an impressive military as well."

Vega sided with Shepard, "Yeah, you just don't lay the entire galaxy under your feet with only knowledge and cooperation. They probably used force here and there."

"Regardless," Liara said dismissively and turned to Shepard excited, "Whatever they were, we have an actual live one here. Think of what we can learn. If this prothean was placed in stasis maybe he, or she, was a scientist, and considering that Earth and the Mars ruins are close maybe he was connected to the Crucible project of their time."

"Good thing we have you here, Liara." Shepard praised.

"I hope I can help," Liara simply said and glanced at her omni-tool. Her scans were finished. "It seems Cerberus damaged the pod, the prothean's life signs are weak."

"Let's get him out of there." Shepard said.

Liara shook her head, "It's not that simple. We can't just break it open, it could kill him. We must figure out the command signal that ends the stasis mode, and that's what Cerberus and the forced scientists were doing,"

Liara looked around. She saw a terminal on a workstation and she walked over and began typing on the keyboard and explained, "Maybe we can find answers in their computers."

Vega asked curious, "How are we supposed to talk to this guy? Anyone her speak prothean?"

Shepard turned to Vega, "We'll improvise."

Jack murmured next to Vega, "You always say that."

"And so far its gone pretty wall improvising, "Shepard deadpanned. He issued his orders to Jack and Vega, "Keep an eye on the lobby and the clean room so we don't get any surprise visits."

"Yes Shepard," Vega responded.

Jack scoffed, "How come I gotta stay back there?"

Shepard grinned and slapped her friendly on her shoulder, "Because you're dependable."

"I hate being dependable," Jack snorted and followed Vega who was heading through the clean room.

Shepard turned to Liara and walked to her, "Find anything?"

Liara shook her head, "No. Nothing related to the pod or the dig site. But I found several Cerberus reports on what they're doing here. For example it seems they didn't take people away to force them to work on another research camp." Liara sighed dejected, "They're taking them elsewhere, but I don't know for what purpose. But it seems Cerberus don't have a lot of personnel here so if the resistance got hold of this information Cerberus would be in trouble. This could help them fight Cerberus. I'll see if I can't forward it when we return to the Normandy. It can turn the tide."

Shepard nodded pleased and smiled, "Good work Liara."

She smiled back, "Yes, at least we can help Eden Prime a bit." Liara accessed her omni-tool and tapped a few keys and explained, "I'll download it to my omni-tool."

When she was finished, Liara turned her attention to the computer again and pressed a few more buttons, "There's something else here. An emergency order of sorts."

The monitor showed a video recording sent from somewhere else. A man in black sleek armor appeared on the feed with facial features of that of a man with Chinese heritage, but his face was also adorned with cybernetic implants on his cheeks and around his eyes.

The man spoke in a cold and commanding voice through the speakers, _"This is Kai Leng. I'm authorizing a full sweep of the dig site. Eliminate anyone who may have seen the prothean artifact. Full burn protocol, detonate the bombs in the settlements and I want fire teams to hunt down and neutralize all survivors. Move the artifact to site B instead."_

The transmission ended and Liara mumbled sadly under her breath.

Shepard asked evenly, "Didn't you mention a Kai Leng once?"

She nodded grimly and sighed, "Yes."

"Definitely some sort of enforcer for Cerberus."

Liara looked around and saw another terminal hooked up to the farm of super computers. A large monitor on the wall in front of the terminal showed black and white garbled images. She thought it was damaged and hadn't bothered with it, but maybe it was accessing the stasis pod. Liara walked over and began accessing the computer.

Shepard followed her and stopped at her side and watching her work. He said evenly, "I really want out of here soon Liara. Cerberus reinforcements might be moving on our location right now."

"I know," Liara acknowledged. She accessed the logs on the computers and quickly read them. "Ahh, it seems Cerberus found footage of the protheans and was studying it hoping it would give them a clue to figure out how to open the pod."

Liara punched in a few more keys on the keyboard as Shepard watched the garbled images on monitor.

Slowly Shepard began seeing events unfold on the monitor. It was still garbled but he recognized the bulky form of a Reaper destroyer that was attacking prothean soldiers who fired their weapons at the Reaper. One of its large claw-like legs crashed down on a gaggle of protheans and crushed them. In the background there were tall skyscrapers of a prothean city burning as other Reapers, both destroyers and capital ships, attacked the city.

The ominous feeling of the prothean cipher he still had in his mind sprung to life.

* * *

In an underground bunker below the surface, Commander Javik and his three men battled the relentless assaults by the Reaper processed minions as they threw themselves against the prothean soldiers inside the vast tunnel. On the surface the Reaper ships were pushing through the defenses, turning the once glorious and vast city in to rubble. It was the final battles of the Prothean Empire, and Reaper forces pushed forward with intent on taking the underground bunker. And even deep underground the men fighting could hear the explosions as the Reapers bombarded the surface.

Javik meticulously fired his particle rifle in short bursts, the powerful green beam ripped through the minions and they toppled to the ground and died. Javik and his men had to keep the former protheans at bay so the VI could make the final preparations and seal them inside the vast stasis chamber.

One of Javik's men was shot in the torso as the possessed minions returned fire, he fell to the ground with a wheezing sound. He was still alive.

Javik grimaced angrily as his biotics flared up, creating a green shimmer around his body. He dropped his rifle on the ground and erected a powerful biotic bubble around two minions who stopped in their tracks. Javik's arm flared up and in one swift movement he lifted the enemies of their feet and slammed them into a nearby wall, crushing them. He then turned around to face the oncoming enemies who rushed him, and Javik pushed them aside with yet another powerful biotic force, the minions screamed in agony as they were thrown into a wall and killed.

But it wasn't enough. More and more minions rushed the vast underground tunnel on the far side.

Javik retrieved his rifle from the ground and ran over to his fallen comrade. He turned and opened fire down the tunnel as more minions rushed into the battle while others returned fire at the protheans.

Javik ordered, "Victory, seal the bulkheads! Men cover me!"

The VI appeared next to Javik, _"Acknowledged."_

Javik stopped firing his weapon and grabbed the downed man by the armor with his free hand and pulled him away as his two remaining soldiers laid down suppressive fire, killing several minions who tried to reach the protheans before the blast doors closed. Javik pulled the man to safety just in time when the two large blast doors closed in front of them, sealing them inside. On the other side the minions slammed on the blast door.

One of Javik's men rushed to the injured man's side, but it was too late, the man was dead.

Javik leaned on the blast door and tried to calm down and gulped down several breaths of air. He straightened himself from the blast door and walked a few meters into the vast stasis chamber and took in the sight. Several fires raged further into the hall, and pods had fallen from their compartments and riddled the path for as long as eyes could see. The Reaper attacks had created havoc in the bunker. His species last hope was about to be lost if they didn't succeed with their mission.

Javik frowned, "How many have we lost?"

_"Reaper forces have destroyed approximately 300 000 life pods,"_ the VI explained in its monotone voice behind Javik.

Javik walked over to the closest pod on the ground and knelt down at the edge of it and accessed its control panel. He pressed a few button on the holographic interface and the pod opened, revealing a charred dead body of a prothean soldier.

"A third of our people," Javik surmised angrily and placed his hand on the dead soldier's body. Javik closed his eyes and bowed his head, mourning the death of his fellow soldier. The sacrifice of the dead soldier and the rest of his people who had died in the war would spearhead him leading the coming empire and guide his people to arise once more. He would avenge the slaughter of the protheans.

Victory suddenly warned, _"Alert, north-side bulkhead cannot be sealed. Hostiles detected."_

Javik rose to his feet and faced the VI, "Send all forces to the north."

_"Acknowledged."_

Javik gestured for his men to follow him, and he led them down the tunnel. They traversed the large tunnel and emerged on the other side of the underground bunker in another stasis chamber which was still functional and undamaged from the heavy fighting. The VI sealed the bulkheads, keeping any intruders at bay.

One of the soldiers spoke up behind Javik, "I never thought our empire would fall."

Javik stopped and turned to his comrade and asserted, "It won't. We'll sleep here until the Reapers return to dark space. Then we will rise, a million strong."

"For the empire."

Javik nodded, "For the empire. Get to your stasis pods."

The soldier nodded and rushed away with his comrade.

Javik turned and called out, "Victory, broadcast the stasis readiness signal to all life pods."

The VI emerged and asked, _"What of the refugees who have yet to reach the bunker?"_

"Their sacrifice will be honored in the coming empire," Javik simply said.

_"Acknowledged."_

There was no time to wait for the civilians, and most likely they had already been slaughtered or taken to be processed.

A sudden explosion rocked the large stasis chamber. On the far side of the tunnel an explosion erupted and ripped apart the blast door and through it dozens of minions rushed the chamber.

Javik turned to the explosion and retrieved his rifle from his harness and prepared to meet his foe in battle.

* * *

Shepard returned to reality, "I think I can duplicate that and open the stasis pod."

Liara looked up from the keyboard, "Uh? You understood that?"

Shepard turned to Liara surprised, "You didn't?"

She shook her head, "No, all I saw was static. Cerberus was trying to make sense of it without success. The Prothean cipher you have let's you see the images as a prothean would...and understand their language."

"Whatever it did it helped me understand the feed, I can open the pod."

Liara nodded, "Excellent."

Shepard radioed Vega, "Everything okay out there?"

_"Yeah, all good. Nothing's here,"_ Vega responded in Shepard's earpiece.

"Okay, get back here. I can open the pod and who knows how this guy will react."

_"Roger, we're coming."_

In less than a minute Vega and Jack returned through the clean room.

Shepard holstered his rifle and walked over to the pod and accessed his omni-tool, "Be ready just in case. Taking the prothean alive is our highest priority, but not at cost of our lives -"

Liara gasped and protested, "John!"

Shepard turned to Liara, "Frankly, our lives are more important."

"Well...yes I see your point," Liara said as her scientific mind ceased.

"If need be, try to disable. Killing is the absolute last resort." Shepard turned to Vega and Jack, "Keep your weapons at your sides. Let's not try and antagonize him by pointing guns at him."

"Copy," Vega said. Both he and Jack kept their weapons in hands but at their sides.

Shepard tapped the omni-tool and transmitted the signal. A holographic vertical display showed up briefly as the ancient computers was activated. A small compartment on the top of the pod opened and revealed a holographic interface for the pod's controls. Shepard walked over and began pushing down a couple of buttons.

Jack looked surprised at Shepard, "How the hell do you know that?"

"I saw some footage on the monitor," Shepard simply explained and gestured at the garbled footage on the monitor behind him. "All these super computers are accessing the stasis pod's system."

Vega shook his head unbelieving, "Jeso Cristo, Loco. Can you speak prothean as well?"

Shepard shrugged and shook his head, "No. But I understand it."

The pod's top opened with a hiss and split into two and revealed a frozen prothean inside of it.

Liara gasped, "Goddess...I never thought I'd see a live prothean."

Shepard and his companions walked closer to the opened pod and looked down on the prothean in red armor.

Jack exclaimed taken aback by the sight, "Shit that's freaky! He looks just like a Collector."

Liara looked at Shepard, "It may take some time for him to regain consciousness..."

The cryogenic stasis slowly wore off and the prothean gasped as he woke up, his four eyes opened.

"No it didn't," Vega pointed out.

The prothean's eyes moved rapidly as he took in the sight of Shepard and his squad hovering above the pod. The prothean moved rapidly and cried out, his biotics powered up and the prothean unleashed a biotic force which knocked Shepard and his companions down on the floor.

With Shepard and the others momentarily incapacitated the prothean picked himself up from the pod, he wobbled as he tried to stand up. He dropped down on the floor but fell on his four limbs as he tried to orientate himself after 50 000 years in cryogenic stasis.

The prothean pushed himself of the ground and stumbled away as Shepard and his squad got back on their feet.

Liara was the first one standing and looked at the confused prothean who was stumbling around inside the laboratory.

"Careful! He's disoriented and confused!" Liara called out, urging her companions not to do anything rash.

The prothean spun around in the lab, his eyes moving rapidly taking in the sight of the unknown environment.

Because of the historic discovery, Shepard and the others had been preoccupied with the prothean and the sudden emergence of a four-man Cerberus squad was a surprise to them when the troops entered through the doorway from the clean room.

Vega raised his weapon and exclaimed, "Holy shit! Contact!"

A trooper barked out, _"They've opened the pod! Engage them!"_

Shepard and his squad darted to cover behind the workstations and opened fire at the troopers who returned the fire, but the prothean reacted to the apparent threat. His body glowed green when he unleashed a powerful biotic field which knocked the troopers into the wall. The prothean reached for the rifle from his back harness and opened fire at the troopers on the floor, quickly killing them before they managed to get back up on their feet. The prothean rushed over to the doorway and into the clean room. The door closed shut behind him as he was swept by the contamination beam.

Shepard barked, "He's leaving! After him!"

Shepard's squad duly left cover and rushed up to the closed door. Shepard peeked through the view port and saw the door on the other end of the clean room open and the prothean disappeared through it.

Shepard snarled, "Shit! We've to get him before Cerberus does!"

Outside they could hear muffled gunfire and screams as a battle erupted in the court yard.

Jack looked at the dead troops on the floor, "Hope it's doing as much damage to Cerberus as it did in here."

"With any luck he is." Shepard responded rapidly and opened the door.

Shepard and his followers dashed inside the clean room, but the doors closed again as the contamination beam swept them, halting them in their chase after the prothean.

"Son of a-! Liara can we shut down the beam?" Shepard demanded when he turned to her.

"I don't think so," Liara said dismal.

A few antagonizing slow moments later the beam had swept them and the door in front of them opened.

Shepard and the others rushed through the doorway and into the lobby. They quickly exited the building and found themselves in the courtyard where they saw another four man squad defeated, the corpses was smoldering from the effects of the prothean weapon.

Shepard spun around trying to locate the prothean, dreadfully believing that they had lost track of him but more sounds of battle erupted on the far side of the settlement which caught his attention. Shepard rushed off down an alley in the direction of the battle unfolding with the others trailing him.

"At least he's effective," Jack observed. She was panting as she followed Shepard close by.

Vega chimed in, "So what's this thing doing, Doc? Trying to get back to where it's comfortable? It ran from us but killed the Cerberus troops. It clearly has a destination in mind."

Liara responded bewildered, "I don't know. It's almost like it was moving on instinct."

Shepard's squad reached a street intersection between several buildings and hooked a right. They were now almost on the outskirts of the settlement and saw another defeated four-man Cerberus squad littering the street.

Vega responded in between breaths, "I can buy that. But why keep it alive for 50 000 years if it's going to come out like an animal?"

"I wish I knew. There's so much we could learn from this prothean."

"As long as we're asking the questions, and not Cerberus," Shepard observed and panted.

The gunfire outside the settlement stopped and the squad soon reached the last buildings and the road leading out to other parts of the valley. Shepard and his squad stopped in their tracks as they saw the prothean on the edge of the plateau some twenty meters away from them, surrounded by the bodies of dead Cerberus troops. The prothean dropped down on his knees and let his weapon fall to the ground. He glanced out over the lake and the destroyed settlements on the hillsides, taking in the new world he suddenly awakened to.

"He looks unharmed," Liara observed.

"Easy now," Shepard told his followers and lowered his weapon. "I don't think he's a threat to us."

"This is loco!" Vega exclaimed while panting heavily. Adrenaline was flowing though his body.

Shepard walked slowly towards the kneeling prothean with his squad following behind; they had also lowered their weapons but kept them ready.

Shepard approached the prothean from the side and reached out with his free hand touching the prothean's red samurai-like armor, Shepard wanted to keep the prothean still so he didn't run away again. Suddenly Shepard's world rapidly faded away and his mind raced swiftly again.

The last thing Shepard heard before his mind disappeared from reality was Liara's warning, "Remember, it's been 50 000 years for us, but for him it's only been-"

* * *

"-a few minutes!" Javik exclaimed desperately. He turned to Victory behind him.

_"No. The bunker is failing, there is no other option,"_ Victory explained while its holo flickered because of damage to the underground bunker and it's intricate systems.

Around them fires burned, the previous battle against the minions and the bombardment on the surface had damaged yet another stasis chamber. For the moment another set of giant blast doors had sealed them inside another portion of the chamber. More lives had been lost as the Reaper forces pushed on.

"There are pods online! Those soldiers are still alive!" Javik pressed on indignantly, gesturing at the compartments which riddled the walls of chamber, trying to reason with Victory.

_"Their sacrifice will be honored in the coming empire,"_ Victory simply said and initiated bunker protection protocols, _"Preparing neutron bombardment. Get to your life pod. Now."_

Javik grimaced angrily but ran off to a pod which had been ejected out of its compartment on the wall, there wasn't much else to do. With a press of a button on the control panel the pod opened and Javik crawled into it and lied down. The pod closed and the compartment mechanism pulled it inside the wall, the last thing Javik saw before his pod closed was the tall wall of compartments above him.

The inside of the pod was now pitch black and his eyes adjusted to the darkness.

Victory informed through the pod's intercom, _"Neutron bombardment commencing."_

Javik's pod began shaking violently and the loud noise of the neutron bombardment reached into the compartment and his pod. Moments later the noise and rumbling ceased.

_"The bunker is secure Commander Javik,"_ Victory informed.

Javik lamented, "What is left of it. A few hundred people. How am I going to rebuild an empire from that?"

His empire's last grasp of returning to its glory and fighting the Reapers in the future was gone. The cycle would repeat itself and the protheans could not stop it.

Victory informed, _"Further adjustments may be necessary. Neutron purge compromised the facility."_

Javik didn't understand. He frowned and asked, "Clarify?"

_"Sensors are damaged. Automated reactivation is not possible. You'll remain in stasis until a new culture discovers this bunker. This may lead to a power shortage."_

"Do not shut off more pods! I need the few that are left!" Javik shouted desperately, mad with rage. Everything had fallen apart.

_"Power needs will be triaged appropriately," _Victory explained. _"You will be the voice of our people."_

"I will be more than that," Javik promised wrathfully as the cryogenic machinery came to life.

* * *

Javik jolted forward by the involuntary twitch after the merge, reliving his final moments of his time. Javik instinctively placed his hands on the ground to stop him from falling over. Waking up in a new time after...he didn't know how much time had passed. Only minutes earlier had he heard Victory's words before he was put into cryogenic stasis. He didn't recognize anything, the planet was still temperate but nothing looked like it had done during the war. Where the once great city had stood there was only mountains and a lake now, physical features of the landscape which had never been there before.

It was a futile thought, but maybe Victory had been able to keep others of his people alive, maybe he could start anew and rally the species of this time against the Reapers. Maybe there was still time.

_If not, their sacrifice will be remembered in the coming empire._

Javik glanced at the figure standing at his left. He had read the individual through their physical contact and knew enough to communicate, "How many others?"

"Just you."

Javik pushed himself of the ground with a angry groan. The plan had failed, his race was obliterated - extinct - and he was the only one left. The Reapers had succeeded in his time. The tall spires of the cities, the memories of a people, and the powerful empire which ruled a galaxy was gone and no one would remember it.

The figure at his side asked flabbergasted, "Wait! You can understand me?"

Javik looked at the valley in front of him, "Yes. I read your physiology. Your nervous system. Enough to understand your language."

"So you were reading me while I was seeing..."

"Our last moments. Our failure," Javik explained dreary.

The individual - a human wearing black armor - walked around to face him and spoke vigorously, "Your people did everything they could. They never gave up. And I could use some of that determination now."

Javik heard movement behind him and turned around and saw the human's companions as they approached him, clearly taken aback by his presence. But the human he was talking too had surprisingly adjusted quickly.

Javik scoffed apathetic as he watched the henchmen, "Asari. Human. I'm surrounded by primitives."

The undeveloped races of his time now ruled this cycle. His people had succumbed into nothingness, just as the species of the cycles before the protheans had done. Now, all that remained was ruins of a superior species which the primitives stood upon.

The human at his side continued, "Look, it's not safe here. There could be more hostiles on their way. Will you join us?"

Javik turned, "You fight the Reapers?"

"Yes."

"Then we will see," Javik responded indifferent.

* * *

**_Don't be a lurker, review!_**

**_Quote: Black Hawk Down_**

"**_Always Faithful, Always Forward" is USMC MARSOC's motto, I adopted it for the Alliance's Special Operations Forces._**

**_Poll (should I add Javik to the story?):_**

**_Yes: 26  
_**

**_No: 4  
_**

**_Following plot specific events taken from the leaked script:_**

**_*The Shepard-statue and Vega's comment about it (if the line was for Vega, I don't know)._**

**_*The dialogue about prothean ruins._**

**_*The lead scientist and most of the dialogue, although the character had a different name (Doctor Milgram) and could have been a man (although that was left unspecified)._**

**_*The Cerberus bomb detonating and killing colonists (I extended it to two bombs)._**

**_*Kai Leng's vid-feed-orders to wipe out the dig site and the colonists (with some minor changes)._**

**_*The dialogue about Javik's rampage (with some changes)._**


	40. Brave New Cycle

The flight back to the Normandy had been uneventful and quiet. Cortez had showed up within minutes after Shepard had called for extraction, and according the Kodiak's sensors there had been several Cerberus shuttles inbound on the valley but Cortez slipped away without being detected. Despite the severe number of civilian casualties the mission had still been a success, they had managed to retrieve the 'artifact' from Cerberus and delivered yet another blow to Cerberus' operations.

Liara had been visibly ecstatic about the prothean's presence. Vega had also been astonished but Jack kept herself composed, her bewilderment from earlier had ceased. Cortez was busy flying the Kodiak but did throw some cursory glances at their new guest sitting in the passenger compartment.

Shepard was quite interested in the prothean's weapon, some sort of particle weapon. On a glance it appeared similar to that of the Collector's weapons that made a sort of sense considering the Collectors were repurposed protheans which was an intriguing albeit superficial observation. Liara and probably many others would probably have great hopes about what sort of knowledge the ancient alien possessed, andt hat he could provide insight into the potentially deadly mystery that is the Crucible, but Shepard already knew that science was not the prothean's calling. At least that was what it seemed from when they both shared minds, but he didn't discount the possibility entirely. There might be much more to the prothean than what he had seen, perhaps the prothean had only let him see what he wanted. Regardless, a month ago they couldn't dream of finding a prothean, and now they managed to snatch him right out of Cerberus hands.

Javik had yet to recover from the shock of waking up in a new cycle, and with his people being wiped out he was thankful none of the others in their transport drew in him to conversation. But the asari was excited and whimsical and Javik choose to ignore her. The human leader – Shepard – had informed Javik that the civilizations of this time used computerized translators for real-time conversation across different species and languages. And as he now had an understanding of the human's language as well as that of a 'simplified trade language', Javik would be able to communicate with others. But Shepard did recommended that it would be far easier for other species converse in their respective language.

Javik scoffed at the computerized aids they needed, _primitives!_

Javik was adjusting to the human's language which felt very strange to verbalize, and that 'trade tongue' was even worse. He had learned that not only was there an asari onboard the ship, but apparently a brutish turian resided on the ship as well.

_I'll need to wash my hands of all this crud. I feel saturated by it._

For Javik, even though his fellow soldiers had died as time passed, the mission had been halfway successful and he had survived into the next cycle. But as he was the last prothean he would be unable to rally the races of the cycle around him to fight the Reapers. Instead - and the thought didn't amuse Javik - he had to follow a primitive human fighting the machines.

Javik was flabbergasted, the humans used to live in caves and throw rocks at wildlife.

The shuttle soon docked with the Normandy and settled in the cargo bay.

Shepard was the first one out when the door opened; thankfully the cargo bay was empty. The students where elsewhere onboard the ship as they had been evacuated from the cargo bay prior for the Kodiak's liftoff, and the folding beds had been set aside as well during the morning to allow for flight operations. Shepard hadn't called the Normandy to inform about their new arrival but would soon enough, for now he wanted to prothean to settle in.

Javik was the second one out and followed Shepard through the cargo bay. The rest of the squad followed in Shepard's wake as they stopped at the armor to rid themselves of their weapons at their designated lockers. Jack headed over to the main weapon storage on the opposite side of the armory and stowed away her weapons in a container as she had no permanent locker.

Shepard spoke up as he unloaded his weapons and stowed them in his locker, "This is the Normandy, my ship. As for quarters, there's an empty space directly above us, the port cargo hold. I think it will suffice."

"Understood," Javik simply answered standing among the workstations and the armorer's benches observing the others as they rid themselves of their weapons.

Beyond the armory, Cortez was manipulating the lift controls for the Kodiak to move it to its customary parking place.

Shepard turned from his locker and approached Javik, "The cargo hold is rather spacious, more than enough room to make yourself at home. Is there something specific you'd want?"

"Water."

"To drink?" Shepard asked.

"No. To cleanse myself. I would also like some time of seclusion to adjust."

Shepard suspected that the prothean, despite his stoic demeanor, was likely shocked about everything that had transpired in the short time since waking up.

Shepard turned to Liara who had quickly finished stowing her weapons and joined at Shepard's side, "How about you help him get settled later. Maybe you know a thing or two about prothean accommodations."

Liara was giddy as a schoolgirl and exclaimed, "Yes!" She turned excited to Javik, "I have so many questions!"

Shepard held up his hand near Liara, stopping her in her thoughts. He urged, "Let's all calm down a bit after the mission, we can get to learn each other later. It's been a...day full of events for all of us."

Liara reeled herself in as much as she could and cleared her throat, "Yes of course. I'll help with the cargo hold."

At the far end of the armory Jack had finished stowing away her weapons and now approached the party.

Shepard glanced at Javik's weapon sticking up behind him on his harness, "We store our weapons down here, they rarely leave the armory."

Which was almost true, but both Zaeed and Garrus brought a weapon or two with them to their quarters to tinker with. But he trusted those two, but the prothean - even if he hadn't displayed any major hostility - was a unknown in more than one way.

Javik pondered the request shook his head, "No, I don't trust anyone onboard your ship. I won't let my weapon out of my sight."

_Of course_, Shepard mused unsurprised. The prothean felt threatened and Shepard tried to assure him, "We are not your enemies."

"That remains to be seen." Javik responded.

Shepard relented. Shepard gestured to Javik to follow him to the elevator, "This way."

Javik nodded and followed Shepard and the others to the elevator. Vega had observed the interactions with the prothean after he had stored his weapons, but would stay behind in the cargo bay to remove his armor before heading up to the crew deck for a shower in the public shower room. Jack tagged along as she was to head to the crew deck where her students were at the moment.

The slow elevator ascended to the engineering deck where Shepard stepped out and showed Javik the way to the cargo hold while Jack and Liara remained in the elevator. For the moment the cargo hold was stored with crates and there were a few tables there as well including the folding bed which the Primarch had used while he resided onboard the Normandy. Javik accepted his new home and Shepard left for the elevator and it took the occupants to their respective destinations on the ship.

* * *

Shepard had taken a quick shower and wrapped his towel around his waist and stepped out of the bathroom finding Miranda leaning her butt against the office table, presumably waiting for him.

She looked up when he stepped out, her eyes took the scenic route of his abdomen up his chest and finally his eyes. She spoke unbelievingly, "A prothean?"

Whilst returning to his quarters Shepard had told EDI to inform the rest of the ship about the prothean. But he had reminded her not to divulge herself to the prothean for the time being, seeing as his species had been wiped out by machines he could very likely not respond well to an AI onboard the ship. He would inform the prothean of EDI once some kind of rapport had been established with the alien. And for the time being, no one in the crew was allowed to mention EDI to the prothean either.

Shepard quipped as he stopped in front of her, "Yes, thank you. I'm fine by the way."

"Yes, I'm relieved that you are back," Miranda said softly.

Miranda straightened herself from the table and closed the distance. She cupped his face and kissed him tenderly and deeply while Shepard wrapped his arms around her body pressing her against his. Both sighed contently before they parted a minute later.

Miranda quietly relished being held by Shepard but repeated astonished, "A prothean?"

Shepard nodded, "Yes. He is settling in now, in the port cargo hold. Liara is assisting."

Miranda shook her head slowly, she still couldn't really believe what she was hearing, "She must be excited."

"That's putting it mildly," Shepard observed and let go of Miranda. He headed down the steps for the closet.

Miranda followed and asked, "How is this possible?"

"A stasis pod had been found in an underground bunker similar to the one on Illos. And Cerberus wanted it...badly. They had occupied the valley and the surrounding settlements."

Shepard stopped and opened the closet and removed his towel unashamed and reached for a pair of black boxers from a drawer.

Miranda let her eyes roam his body but shook away her lustful thoughts, there wasn't time for that now.

Shepard grabbed a pair of socks and sat down on the edge of the bed and sighed dejected, "They detonated bombs to cover their tracks."

Miranda sat down next to him and crossed a leg over the other as he began putting on his socks. She asked, "Bombs?"

Shepard nodded, "They blew up the two larger settlements and the dig site - I don't even want to think how many colonists they killed - and then their troops began shooting civilians in the smaller settlement we where in."

"God..." Miranda said appalled.

"We saved some, two dozen James told me while we waited for Cortez to pick us up. He led the others to clear the streets while I supported with my sniper rifle. The colonists escaped into the nearby forest."

Shepard rose and reached for a new set of BDU's to wear.

"The Cerberus I joined...isn't any more." She chuckled cheerlessly, "Or maybe they've always been like this but I was kept in the dark. Things are very compartmentalized within Cerberus."

Shepard put on his BDU-pants, "Or maybe the Illusive Man has gone over the edge. Gotten a little too close to the Reaper tech they salvaged beyond the Omega 4 Relay."

Miranda nodded slowly, "That is also a possibility." She wasn't sure what rattled her the most, that what Shepard said was right or that the organization she had devoted almost twenty years of her life too was...that callous to murder civilians in such great numbers. In hindsight, the pattern had always been there though; Pragia, Akuze, Chasca and Project Overlord.

Shepard put on his shirt and said, "I'm going to report to Hackett, then I'll welcome our new guest."

"How do you communicate with it?" Miranda asked baffled. "I know you have an understanding of the prothean language..."

"Through touch it appears the protheans could read people, he now has an understanding of English and the galactic trade language."

Miranda was still flabbergasted by it all, "Amazing. This is a major scientific discovery, John. I want to accompany you when talking to the prothean, I'm intrigued to witness this. Does the prothean have a name?"

Shepard shrugged, "He hasn't divulged it yet. I'm not sure how cooperative will he be after suddenly waking up to this foreign age."

"He doesn't really have much of a choice. In some ways he is in a similar position to you last year."

Shepard joked, "I resent that. I'm a much better boss then you were."

Miranda feigned icy stare, "Perhaps he can help us avoid some of the mistakes they made. Perhaps he knows something about the Crucible."

"He could prove to be an invaluable source of information on the Reapers, but unfortunately for a scientist he seemed very well versed in the art of killing. He probably is just a high ranking soldier. He rampaged after we opened the pod and killed a lot of Cerberus reinforcements that had arrived. But we will see."

Miranda's mood dropped at bit at the revelation, but fortunately she didn't have much time to let her hopes go up. And although she wasn't as interested in the protheans as Liara, Miranda's scientific mind was amazed by the discovery, "50 000 years in stasis...fascinating."

Shepard nodded, "And pretty morbid. It was a bit disturbing how much he resembled a Collector."

"Understandable considering what we learned of the Collectors last year."

Shepard pondered thunderstruck, "What does he eat? Or what if he joins us and gets injured in combat and he needs surgery? Chakwas can't repair what she doesn't know. We may lose our new ally to a triviality. "

Miranda teased with a sympathetic smile, "It seems you haven't thought this matter through."

Shepard shook his head slowly, "Who has the time?" Shepard deadpanned, "The logistics surrounding it all is...intricate." He gestured for her to stand up and he took her hand in his when she did, "Come, let's get the paper work out of the way and then talk to the prothean."

"You mean you let me do all the paper work?" Miranda quipped.

* * *

Both Miranda and Shepard had noted that the two war room guards appeared much more respectful and had greeted them with proper salutes. Miranda hadn't bother returning the salute (plus she was a civilian) and Shepard only gave them a begrudgingly glance and saluted as was accustomed to the military when they walked through processing. Since the altercation a few days earlier Miranda suspected that the guards probably had the nagging feeling that their tour on the Normandy as well as their careers was going downhill fast and believed they could make up for their insolence by suddenly being respectful.

Miranda was waiting in the war room as not to be spotted by Admiral Hackett as Shepard ventured inside the QEC-room while EDI dialed up the Admiral. Shepard had yet to reveal her presence onboard, but had said that he would before the war room guards would be kicked of the ship. She had certainly earned her keep and was a valued member of the team (unsurprisingly of course) but that by the time the guards had left the Normandy her presence could be leaked and it was for the best that Miranda's presence was revealed by Shepard before the guards left the Normandy.

Shepard was patiently waiting for the connection to Hackett to be established and soon enough the Admiral's holo was processed.

Hackett wasted no time and spoke, _"Commander, do you have your preliminary report? What was Cerberus after?"_

Shepard was frank with Hackett, "A 50 000 year old stasis pod had been found which contained a living prothean. We've awakened him and he's currently onboard the Normandy."

Not very much startled the ageing Admiral these days, but this revelation gave Hackett a moment's pause and he said astonished, "A prothean?"

Shepard nodded, "Yes."

_"How do you communicate?"_

"Protheans have some sort of sensory ability and he read my mind and thus we can communicate in English very well."

Hackett was baffled, _"Commander, our scientists are almost fumbling in the dark in some aspects of the Crucible, even if we're making headway, but this prothean could help us construct the device."_

Shepard shrugged and shook his head, "We can't be sure, but he is in all probability a military officer and I found it doubtful he would be privy to much information on a scientific project such as the Crucible. I have however some hopes he might have basic understanding of what it does and perhaps he can even tell us if the Crucible even is of prothean origin."

Hackett sighed, _"That's rather unfortunate, but regardless it is crucial we have his cooperation if he knows anything."_

"If nothing else I will try to convince him to join my ground team. Fighting what had annihilated his race is probably a strong incentive. He might not be a scientist, but as an officer he probably has extensive knowledge of prothean tactics against the Reapers, which can prove of great help. Maybe even additional insights on the Reapers."

Hackett nodded, _"Alright, you have my go ahead for that as well."_

"Sir, even though we liberated the prothean from Cerberus, the mission was not entirely successful."

_"Oh?"_

Shepard informed evenly, "Cerberus was about the take away the pod and intended to wipe out the settlements and kill every colonists there to cover their tracks. They detonated two bombs and leveled two out of three settlements and were gunning down civilians in the third settlement. We stopped the kill squads, but the civilian death toll is likely to be very high"

Hackett sighed, _"Christ. Why are they killing human colonists, aren't they supposed to be pro-humanity?"_

"Don't know sir. Liara uncovered some intel which also suggests that Cerberus was kidnapping colonists but we don't know for what purpose."

_"This is disconcerting to say the least,"_ Hackett lamented. _"We're losing colonies to the Reapers faster than we can evacuate, and now Cerberus is killing our population as well."_

"Liara intend to inform the resistance on Eden Prime on the intel we recovered, she thinks it can help them eject Cerberus from the colonies."

Hackett nodded approvingly, _"Good. Even with the high loss of life Cerberus slipped up and gave us a new weapon. Don't let it go to waste."_

"I won't sir," Shepard assured.

_"Good. I've your report on the Grissom Academy mission, I have to commend you for getting the students out of there. I'll be waiting on the Eden Prime report Commander, I'm sure everything will be there."_

"Of course sir." He hadn't written the after action report on Grissom yet so the safe conclusion was that Miranda had likely done that while she had been in charge of the Normandy. He was thankful for that, one less thing to worry about.

Shepard said, "Sir, I've a request to make."

_"What do you need Commander?"_

"Regarding the students. They might be proficient in the biotics, but their instructor feels that they will likely not be suited for combat operations with their lack of experience and she will not be able to train them efficiently now with Grissom evacuated. I would request that the students instead provide biotic support."

Hackett pondered this request, _"We are in need of biotics for combat operations, but if you feel that this is the case I'll see to it that they're allocated to support operations instead."_

Shepard nodded grateful, "Thank you sir."

_"Commander, I'll inform the Council of the prothean and the events of Eden Prime, you worry about getting the prothean to help us."_

"Yes, sir."

_"Good. Hackett out."_

Hackett severed the communications.

Shepard turned and saw Miranda walking up to the doorway.

"Okay then," Shepard said, "let's head downstairs and welcome the prothean."

Suddenly Liara's voice was heard over the intercom and she urged, _"Shepard, I need you down the cargo hold, it's about our new guest."_

"On my way," Shepard called out, curious about what was going on but as Liara didn't sound to be under too much duress it probably wasn't anything life threatening.

* * *

Shepard and Miranda entered the cargo hold, which now had been re-decorated and the crates had been removed. Liara had retrieved two pools of water, placed a new folding bed in the room and moved the tables to the far end of the room near the pools of water. She had also retrieved a monitor and hung it on the wall on the far end of the room with an interface on a table below it. Vertical drapes hung on the walls and there was some kind of light mist throughout the room. The prothean sat on his knees at the far end with his back to the wall. But what caught Shepard's attention was the four-man squad of marines with Vindicator-rifles surrounding the prothean who appeared calm. The marines held on to their weapons but didn't point them at the prothean.

Liara was hovering near the entrance and the marine leading the armed guards, Corporal Morris, turned around when Shepard arrived.

Miranda was astounded to see the prothean at the end of the room, and if Miranda didn't know better it seemed like he could be meditating, but she was a little taken aback by the similarities of the Collectors. The bug-like creatures and their appalling base beyond the Omega 4 Relay had haunted her dreams in the weeks after the completion of their mission.

"What's going on?" Shepard asked and stopped at Liara with Miranda in tow.

Liara explained evenly, "I've been doing my best to accommodate the room for the prothean and then these marines entered and they're not letting me talk to him."

Morris walked up and greeted Shepard with a salute and turned to Liara, "I'm sorry Doctor T'Soni, but Alliance protocols states that any contact with a new race is to 'assume hostilities'."

Liara explained annoyed, "But he is not a new race. I've studied the protheans my entire life."

Shepard sighed and turned to Morris, "Corporal, did I give you an order to guard the prothean?

Morris looked at Shepard and hesitated, "Eh...no sir."

Shepard explained evenly, "Exactly. I gave no such order when informing the crew of our guest. I'm all for the people under my command to think for themselves, but I didn't deem the prothean a threat and saw no reason to have armed guards down here. And unless I explicitly issue an order you are not to take actions like these on your own. Understood?"

"Yes, sir." Morris said

Shepard nodded and said, "Good Corporal. Thank you for your assistance, you can leave now, I don't think our guest will be a problem."

Morris snapped to attention and saluted, "Yes sir."

The Marines promptly left the cargo hold.

Shepard walked up to the sitting prothean, "Will you be a problem?"

Javik rose up from the floor and said evenly, "That depends on you."

The prothean took a step forward and suddenly grabbed Shepard by each arm, with his sensory ability Javik read Shepard and closed his eyes.

"John!" Miranda called out concerned, regretting that she hadn't taken a quick detour to the armory even though she was a biotic. She wished Shepard hadn't excused the marines, she agreed with the Alliance protocols and thought it was very prudent to keep the prothean under guard at least for a while. She was about to call back the guards when the prothean began talking in a calm but cold voice.

"The Reapers have come, taken world after world and are pushing forward. I sense fear, anxiety and distress in you." Javik opened his eyes and looked into Shepard's, "You are angry, your home world was recently taken."

Miranda calmed down, the prothean didn't appear to be a threat. She glanced at Liara who was visibly intrigued about what was happening.

Javik let go of Shepard and took a step back.

Shepard was calm but still bewildered about this sensory ability protheans had. He asked, "What do you mean 'you sense'?"

Javik paced around the edge of the room and explained, "If you can read them, all life provides clues. It's in your cells, your DNA. Experience is a biological marker."

Javik turned his back to the others and stopped at one of the pools of water and slipped is hands into the water to wash them.

"What was all that I experienced back on Eden Prime? I call that one hell of a flashback. I was literally there when those visions played."

"The battle which raged on the planet you call Eden Prime left its mark on me, I communicated this to you. It can work both ways."

Liara walked up to Shepard's side and asked, "Like your beacons?"

Javik turned around to face Shepard, intrigued that the primitives knew of the beacons and walked closer to Shepard.

"Yes. Which..." Javik grasped his hands around Shepard's arms again reading the human. Javik closed his eyes and the visions of the prothean beacon found on Eden Prime three years earlier flashed in front of his eyes. Showing the warning about destruction of the Prothean Empire.

Javik slowly opened his eyes again and released Shepard, taking a step back. Ill at ease and surprised, "...you found one. You saw it all, our destruction and our warnings," Javik exclaimed furious, "why weren't they heeded? Why didn't you prepare to face the Reapers, human?"

Shepard said sternly, "It's 'Commander' to you. And we couldn't interpret them to begin with, the beacon nearly killed me. The visions were vague at best, and they didn't give anyone else reason to believe me. Even I wasn't sure the visions were it real."

Javik snorted and walked over to the pool, "Communication is still primitive it seems."

"We pieced together what we could of the visions and it helped us stop a Reaper invasion three years ago."

Javik washed his hands as he listened to Shepard. He turned with some slight hope in his voice and asked, "Then the extinction was delayed?"

"Yes," Shepard answered.

Liara interjected, "And now we have the plans to your device." She walked over to the monitor and the table beneath it with interface controls and punched in a few buttons. She explained, "We're in the process of building it."

Javik watched Liara and asked confused, "Device?"

Liara explained dumbfounded, she had believed the prothean knew of it, "The weapon that your people was building to defeat the Reapers." The blueprint of the Crucible showed up on the monitor. "I was hoping that you could help us construct it."

Javik watched the blueprints on the monitor and walked closer. He bowed his head with closed eyes and lamented, "It was too late for us to finish it. We were never able to."

Shepard spoke from behind, "There's a vital component missing, and I assume you don't know anything about this Catalyst?"

Javik leaned on the table and said bleakly, "No." He paused for a moment and explained, "I'm a soldier, not a scientist. I'm only skilled in one art; killing."

_As I suspected,_ Shepard thought to himself.

Liara asked, "What was your mission?"

Javik explained dreary and turned to face the others, "Among my people there were...avatars of many traits; bravery, strength, cunning. A single exemplar of each."

"Which are you?" Shepard asked.

Javik continued wrathfully, "The embodiment of Vengeance. I'm the anger of a dead people, demanding blood spilled for the blood we lost. Only when the last Reaper has been destroyed will my purpose be fulfilled, I've no other reason to exist."

Miranda walked over to Shepard's side quietly and mused, "At least he is motivated."

"Those who share my purpose become my allies, those who do not become casualties."

Shepard said vigorously, "My mission is to defeat the Reapers, and that's what I'm going to do. But nothing is ever that black-and-white."

Javik glanced at Shepard dubiously and countered, "Because you still have hope that this war will end with your honor intact. It begs the question, how far you are willing to go? Do you really think this war will end honorably? Stand in the ashes of a trillion dead souls, and ask the ghosts if honor matters. The silence is your answer." Javik took a step forward and closed his eyes, focusing his attention on Shepard, "Lies are easy to detect, and for a soldier facing the Reapers you still have confidence in your honor but there's desperation."

Liara turned and walked over to one of the tables, a strange looking artifact was encased in a blue shimmer and hovered above a small pedestal. Liara had seen it while she had been busy setting up the room and she asked, "What's this?"

"It's a memory shard," Javik said looking at the shard.

"Can it help us with the device?"

Javik murmured, "No. It contains only pain." The prothean turned to Shepard, "I will help you fight the Reapers." He promised vengefully, "And the last thing the Reapers will hear before they die is the last voice of the protheans sending them to their grave."

Liara turned to the prothean, trying to retain her composure. She was anxious to learn more. She had spent her entire life studying the protheans and now she stood in front of one! The things he must have seen, the things he must know! She was amassed by the technology the protheans had; the beacon was only the tip of the iceberg. If they could preserve someone for 50 000 years, no wonder they had the capability to construct the Crucible. She couldn't wait any longer, she had to question him. When would she ever have the chance to learn so much from about his civilization?

"If you don't mind, I'd like to ask some questions." Liara explained while she fiddled with her fingers. She took a few steps forward to Javik

Shepard chuckled, "Here it comes."

Liara explained, "I've written over a dozen studies on your species, I've published several journals-"

Javik had watched Liara unreadable and said condescending, "Amusing, the asari have finally mastered the art or writing."

Liara looked at Javik dejected, "I'm sorry?"

Javik walked over to one of the pools of water and leaned his back against it and mumbled softly, "Never mind. What do you wish to know?"

"I've always wondered how prothean civilization was like. What sort of government did you have? What can you tell me about your religious believes? Or perhaps-" Liara talked rapidly before she was cut off again.

Javik said sorrowful, "We're dead now. What does it matter?"

Liara spoke discouraged, "I'm...sorry. It's just that studying the protheans is something I've dedicated my life to. It's been a passion of mine, learning as much as possible about those who were before us. We don't know much, there hasn't been much left behind."

"We were slaughtered by the Reapers. That should tell you why there isn't much left from the empire." Javik paused for a moment and continued, "At the time when I was born our empire was engaged in a war with the Reapers and we were losing. The first thing I remember was seeing my planet on fire."

Liara pressed on, "But before the war, how was your civilization back then?"

"We ruled the galaxy; the protheans were the dominant species of our cycle while others bowed before us."

"My studies show that only you were the space faring species of your cycle. I find that strange."

"We were on empire composed of many subjects. All eventually called themselves prothean."

Shepard asked curious, "But what if they didn't want to?"

Javik simply said, "We didn't give them any choice in the matter."

"So other species were enslaved?"

"Any species could have opposed us if they so desired. And if they had won, they would have ruled. There were those who tried but none succeeded."

Liara said taken aback, "I had no idea the protheans were so...severe."

"It was by necessity. We had to unite the organic races against machine intelligence; we discovered the dangers posed by them early on as they rebelled against us."

"We had the same problems in our cycle as well. They're called geth, they were created by a race called quarians and the geth rebelled against their creators three hundred years ago," Shepard explained.

"We assessed that we couldn't allow the machines to surpass us. So to win we united all organic life under one banner."

"Did it work?" Liara asked.

"For a time. It was called the Metacon War and we were turning the tide, but then the Reapers emerged and we understood that machines had surpassed us long ago."

Shepard asked, "What happened during your own war with the Reapers?"

Javik explained, "Many details were lost as the war raged on for centuries, and by the time I was born those who had faced the Reapers in the beginning was long dead. There were memory shards passed on from soldier to soldier, a chronology of what had happened but the memories only gave us small glimpses of the war."

"How did the Prothean Empire fight the Reapers?"

"Attrition. We fought them system by system, planet by planet, city by city. We sacrificed entire worlds just to slow down the Reapers as they would spend time harvesting a population. That time was used to regroup."

"That must have cost you in the long run."

Javik nodded and said glum, "Yes. Our own people were indoctrinated...converted and turned against us. But we had no other choice. Mercy is a weakness that could be used against you."

"So how did you lose the war?"

"What we thought was our strength - our empire - became our liability. All races conformed to the same doctrine, to the same tactics. When the Reapers learned of this they exploited this to our disadvantage. We could not adapt once they found out our weaknesses. The subservient races were divided and became confused. After that it was only a matter of time."

Liara chimed in triumphantly, "I'm happy to say that this cycle is different. Most species cooperate but still remain unique."

Javik pondered, "Then that could very well be your only hope."

Shepard spoke, "Three years ago we found a prothean VI called Vigil on a planet called Illos, it was supervising a research project on that planet."

"I know of this planet, but only by rumor. It was said that we had cities there, built on the ruins of a civilization before us called the Inusannon. If our scientists had a research base there, whatever they were doing was secret."

Liara explained, "Yes. During your war with the Reapers they cut themselves off from the rest of the galaxy so the Reapers wouldn't find them. Then they went into cryogenic stasis to wait for the Reapers to leave the galaxy."

Javik showed a glimmer of hope, "There are others of my race that survived into this cycle?"

Shepard shook his head, "I'm sorry no. They did however stop the Reapers from taking control of the Citadel in this cycle. It delayed their invasion."

Javik pondered, "I never saw the Citadel. It was lost centuries before I was born."

"When I saw the visions on Eden Prime it seemed there were a lot more stasis pods underground. What was the purpose of this?"

"Our empire had fallen, it was the final battles of our cycle, and we knew we had lost. The soldiers I would have commanded was the best, we were the final vanguard."

"So more of you were supposed to survive into this cycle?" Liara asked.

"Yes. Under my leadership we would have commanded the races of your cycle and rebuild the Prothean Empire to fight against the Reapers." Javik shook his head angrily, "But indoctrinated traitors within our ranks betrayed us and the Reapers discovered our plans."

Shepard asked cautiously, "Just out of curiosity, how would you have 'commanded' us?"

Javik explained severely, "By leaving you no other option. If you hadn't joined our army we would have left you to face the Reapers alone."

"Despite the destruction of your civilization we have found quite a few prothean ruins. Were you observing our ancestors?"

"Before the war my people cultivated lesser races that showed potential. Eventually your races would have been offered...a choice to join our empire. But when the Reapers attacked we left your races alone in hopes that the Reapers would find you to primitive."

Shepard said sardonically, "Well, thank you. I think."

Miranda, who had remained silent most of them time and listening in snorted, "That choice would've been 'join us or be dominated.'"

Javik nodded and simply said, "Yes."

Liara interjected, "So there's nothing you can tell us about the device at all?"

"By the time I was born our empire was divided and conquered, nobody knew what the others were doing and we only heard stories. It was said our scientists was constructing a device so powerful that it could defeat the Reapers."

Liara pointed out, "Well, we better finish it or that'll be our fate as well."

Shepard spoke up fascinated, "Seeing as I've experienced your sensory ability first hand...I'm quite intrigued. This has never been encountered before."

"There was a time when all life could impart knowledge and experience to each other through touch. It was the way of things. As normal as breathing. The chemistry of life. We could learn complicated ideas in seconds."

"How does this work?"

Javik explained, "The protheans evolved as hunters, we could read thousands of details in our surroundings and it ensured survivability."

Miranda chimed in, "But how does this work with the beacons? They're inanimate objects."

"As we evolved we developed technology to harness this ability, information could be stored in certain objects through touch."

"How does it work?" Miranda asked, she was amazed by the technological complexity of the Prothean Empire.

"Objects remember their owners."

Miranda was confused, "The beacons were alive?"

"All matter is information. Some of it sentient, some in stasis. But it never goes away. Memory itself has its own biomarker and chemistry. As do knowledge and skills. The beacons could remember these things."

Shepard stated evenly, "Like messages warning about Reaper invasions."

Javik nodded, "Yes, I can still sense the turmoil inside you. Witnessing the extinction of our empire. The fabric of your very being was forever marked that day when the warning was imprinted in you."

"We need computers, even books, to store information," Miranda mused.

Javik scoffed, "Evolution has a taken a step backwards."

Shepard countered, "Which one of us has a spaceship?"

"Which one of us can hear what it says?" Javik asserted.

Shepard wanted to test that statement. "Alright, what can you tell me about this ship then?"

Javik straightened himself from the pool of water and reached down to the floor with his hand. A few moments later he stood straight again and looked at Shepard, "There was…a liquid. A form of incubation. The DNA of a…krogan who lived here. He was powerful, prone to violence. The ship...absorbed these experiences. Like a mirror recording a reflection."

Shepard mused,_ he should probably not come up to our quarters and read that room. He could get sensory overload. _

Instead Shepard said, "Impressive. His name is Grunt."

"And if he was my enemy I would have given him a wide berth. There's great strength in his genes."

Shepard asked, "What about people? I assume you can learn more from me if you...dig deeper?"

"More than they would want me to. Words can only hide what happened, not erase it. Truth is embedded into the fabric of reality."

Miranda observed, "You'd be handy to have around for an interrogation."

"Secrets lead to lies."

"You've never kept a secret?"

Javik shook his head, "I didn't say that. Only that the outcome is certain."

Shepard spoke up, "Well, thank you for talking with us. No one here ever imagined speaking with a prothean."

Javik straightened himself from the pool of water and nodded graciously, "This has been...amusing."

"Oh?"

"So much have changed over time, so much have been lost. Yesterday my empire spanned the galaxy, now they're only a myth. And to discover that the most primitive races of my time now rule the galaxy. The asari, the humans, the turians..."

Liara chimed in, "We also have the salarians."

Javik turned and looked at Liara unbelievingly, "The lizard people evolved?"

"I believe they're amphibian," Liara chided.

Javik was flabbergasted and murmured, "They used to eat flies..."

Liara gave the prothean a long look, bewildered by the prothean's attitudes towards other races. She quietly left the room.

Shepard said, "Speaking of which…how are we going to solve the food problem?"

"The food we ate in my time is likely extinct."

"Yes…"

"In my cycle, salarian liver served raw was considered a delicacy. But if they have evolved…"

Miranda chimed in dryly, "Yes, they would probably not agree to be eaten."

Shepard said, "The krogan have…a liking to salarian livers as well, according to a krogan we know. So in that case my guess would be that you can eat levo-amino food. Basically anything asari, human or krogan can digest without experiencing any ill reaction. Whether or not you'll like our food is another matter."

Javik said brusquely, "It's far less likely I'll get poisoned if I reveal what I eat."

"Uh…alright then. Your choice," Shepard replied.

Javik continued tiredly, "Commander, you can count on me fighting the Reapers. I'm known as Javik. Although I still need time to recover from all this. The shock has yet to worn off."

Shepard nodded, "I understand, this must be one hell of an experience for you. We'll leave you alone. I'm Commander John Shepard," he gestured at Miranda, "This is Miranda Lawson, my second in command. We're on our way to the Citadel actually, but until I've received word what the governing Council think of all this, I believe you have to remain onboard. At least for a while. This is new to us as well."

Javik nodded and turned to his pool of water and slipped his hand into it, "I understand. Your asari left a computer and...several books for me to learn about your cycle." Javik scoffed, "Primitive ways of learning. You've to evolve faster."

Shepard and Miranda took their leave and left the cargo hold. Outside in the corridor next to the elevator Liara was waiting, pacing around impudent.

Liara stopped in her tracks and looked at the two humans as they approached her. She spoke dejected, "This is all...I feel so childish. I've romanticized everything about the protheans...but he seems so..."

"Cold. Reserved. Severe." Miranda said.

Liara nodded, "Yes." She chuckled cheerlessly, "Goddess, how did I ever believe that they were some sort of intellectual paragons which cultivated the known galaxy in their time. They appear to be brutes, imperialists. They used force and intimidation to get their way. And here I dedicated over 50 years of my life to study them."

"There never was any real evidence to how they were as a society," Shepard said sympathetic.

"No, but I'm not the only one. Others have viewed them similarly."

"But we can't judge one species only because of one individual," Shepard pressed on trying to ease Liara's depressed state, "And we have to keep in mind he was born during a war. Not the best upbringing."

Liara nodded slowly, "No, I guess you're right."

Miranda was concerned about Shepard's well being considering what the prothean had read him a couple of times. She interjected, "Are you alright, John? With all that...reading he did."

Shepard turned and flashed a friendly smile, "Yes, I'm alright. A little tired after the mission. And hungry."

Miranda smiled, "Let's get something to eat then."

* * *

Shepard, Miranda and Liara stepped out of the elevator on the crew deck, meeting Jack who was waiting for the elevator.

Jack gave the trio a curt nod and said haughty, "Boy Scout. Blueberry. Cheerleader."

Liara didn't pay much attention to the young biotic. Miranda on the other hand remained impassive but was less then pleased bumping into Jack and her comments.

Shepard couldn't help but to flash a quick grin and asked, "Didn't know you've been hanging around with James."

Jack walked past them and into the elevator and stopped in the opening so the doors didn't close. She turned to face the trio and looked at Shepard bewildered, "Huh?"

"James likes to give out nicknames to people," Shepard explained.

_Ah, yes John. Let stay and chat with Jack, _Miranda thought sarcastically. _Let us hear how many more bloody ways you 'bang' me against different inanimate objects .Splendid_. Miranda rolled her eyes in exasperation.

_Ah, the hot mohawk guy,_ Jack thought. "Right. No, I haven't."

"What have you been up to?"

"Just visited Rodriguez and Seanne," Jack explained. "Chakwas says those wimps are going to be fine, they're just going to heal up their wounds and get some fluids into their systems after the loss of blood."

"Good to hear," Shepard said. "So if their out of the woods, what will you do for the reminder of the day?"

"Cerberus probably made us fall behind on a few lessons. Gonna have to make up lost time." Jack glanced at Miranda and said tauntingly, "What say you Cheerleader, want to assist? I could need someone to demonstrate on. Don't worry; your nails will be intact."

Miranda merely snorted at Jack's reproach.

Jack grinned as a response and snickered, "Or are you worried one of your nails would break? Oh. I'm sorry. I forgot you boy-toy already corrected me, you don't mind breaking nails on his back."

"Is that true John?" Miranda said in a sweet voice, and with her eyes narrowed at Shepard.

"Oh, it's true." Jack said with triumphantly.

Shepard closed his eyes and started rubbing his temple and sighed in frustration. He turned to face Miranda trying to dissolve this awkward situation. "You know. If you wouldn't dignify it with a response, it would stay a meaningless jab." John said evenly.

Miranda conceded. She wasn't sure should she be mad at John or not, but any 'interrogation' would have to wait. It was neither time nor the place for such action. She would not make a public scene. Her expression softened masking her agitation at her 'boy-toy.' She then promptly turned to face Jack, crossed her arms and leaned in on her hip as she did when annoyed.

Jack smirked at the scene.

As the two ladies engaged in a staring duel, that would achieve absolutely nothing, Shepard decided to promptly change the topic before Jack could push any more of Miranda's buttons. "So Jack..."

All eyes suddenly turned towards him.

"I spoke to Admiral Hackett about your request. He agreed with the assessment and that means more or less that it will be granted... So be nice to Miranda and insult other people." Shepard said with a straight face.

Miranda sighed inwardly. She was agitated at how much he did let Jack get away with things. It looked like Jack didn't respect him, and his little jokes probably only made it worse.

Jack grimaced confused, "So the big, scary Admiral fucking Hackett told you that I need to play nice with the Cheerleader?"

Shepard grunted and said sarcastically, "Yes. I told on you to Mr. Hackett and he said that if you won't stop he will send you to your corner," Shepard sounded as he tried to imitate a student of elementary school. Shepard then shook his head and said seriously, "No, frankly he couldn't care less. But I care…"

Jack heard the unspoken warning in those words, but she dismissed it. _Yeah…rat him out to his girlfriend and it's like shoving a giant stick up his ass._ She was still grateful and gave a small appreciative smile, "Thanks for helping the kids."

Shepard continued, "I think what happened at Grissom was already a reality check for most of them. I doubt any chest pounding is much more than empty bravado. But I will make sure no that all of your students have their head straight, so they don't lose it."

Liara pointed out, "They can't do without any confidence either."

Shepard turned to Liara and nodded, "True, I'm not going to run their confidence into the ground, it's not the problem. I will make sure they salvage it and channel it. I simply need to make them realize what is at stake, and show them the difference between bravery and stupidity. As they say confidence is food for the wise man but liquor for the fool."

_Memorized a fortune cookie. The man means business, _Jack thought as she nodded, "Yeah, but it can wait until tomorrow."

Shepard turned to Jack and nodded in acknowledgement, "Alright Jack, no problem."

Jack nodded and walked into the elevator and pressed the button for the cargo bay and the doors closed as the elevator descended.

Liara mused, "She's...a little of an enigma, although I can't claim to know her."

_Oh, Liara,_ Shepard thought uninspired, waiting for Miranda's retort.

Miranda scoffed at that, "I do. A violent-sociopath with abandonment issues. A petulant child with dire trust issues. Take your pick."

Liara frowned at the outburst. She knew there was bad blood between the two, and she heard Jack taunts, but that was excessive. She supposed it was a little inappropriate to describe the former convict in warmer words.

Shepard turned to the two women, "That's a little harsh Miranda." Shepard said softly. He didn't want to sound like he was chiding, or judging. Everyone was under a lot of stress and that was just one of the ways it was relieved. "Jack is no angel, but she made some progress," Shepard said diplomatically, looking at Liara meaningfully.

Liara understood he was careful out of consideration for the XO.

In the meantime Miranda was ashamed and angry and she looked away from the group. Her words were too harsh, but she wasn't necessarily ashamed of the words, but she was ashamed of how petty she sounded and how impulsive her saying them was. She sighed inwardly and took a moment to compose herself.

"I apologize." Miranda said more collected than she was feeling.

Sensing an awkward moment Shepard motioned Liara to walk towards the mess hall and allowed her to take the lead as he stepped towards Miranda slipped a arm around her waist and pressed a soft kiss on her soft raven hair. "It's okay. Relax," Shepard whispered soothingly and gently pressed her to his side before he pulled away after filling his lungs full of her scent.

Miranda relaxed visibly and held him in place Shepard in place and as he was trying to pull away. She leaned forward and whispered into his ear softly. "I don't appreciate you discussing our sex life with anyone. Got it?" She finished the sentence with a hint of steel.

Shepard was about to concede. He had made a mistake and he should apologize. But he thought better of it or rather the opposite and shrugged with a silly smirk. He also pursed his lips apparently forgetting Miranda couldn't see through his skull, even if she did call him various synonyms of airhead in the early stages of their cooperation. However feeling Miranda's eyes drilling holes in his head as well as sharp intake breath of offense, he quickly saved the situation with a soft kiss on her forehead and nodded when he pulled away.

It was obvious to Miranda that Shepard was teasing her. While Miranda was angry at him treating a matter very important to her - her privacy - a much larger part of her was very happy for him. Her John was in an incredibly good mood, and it didn't include them both covered in sheen of sweat. The John she knew, as laid back as he might be, rarely was his demeanor so pure... In a way it reminded her of Oriana. However ordinarily, it seemed obvious that all his baggage was imprinted on his demeanor and the weight of responsibility. And since this war started the unimaginable and truly crushing burden of this war resting on his shoulders.

As silly and even frustrating as it might prove at times, what she really hated was knowing that it would soon end. And over the last year she learned to enjoy those silly moments. Truth be told that ray of sunlight served to lift her own troubled spirit

From the mess hall Liara called out, "I'll return to my office. I've things to do. With the prothean… it's a lot to process. I'll see you around."

"Of course Liara," Shepard shouted back. He let go of Miranda and they walked past the elevator. Further down the walkway where Liara stood.

Liara nodded as she saw the couple approach, "I forwarded all the intel we could reasonably disseminate to the colonial government of Eden Prime. This should help them for now."

"Let's hope so."

Liara rushed off towards her quarters, leaving Shepard and Miranda as they headed for the empty kitchen.

Shepard draped his arm around Miranda's shoulders and drew her closer, "So, what will we eat?" _She does smell good_…

Miranda smiled, "Let's see what can be found. Something light, and maybe you can fetch a bottle of vine."

_Hmm, Like where this is going__. _Shepard kissed the top of her head, "As you wish. How about we eat up in our quarters. A little alone time."

"I'd like that."

The couple began going through the fridge to see what food items that was available, if any, or if they had to venture down to the cargo bay and the stored food that could be found there. The Two lovebirds found what they needed and they decided on some pasta salad. After half an hour in the kitchen they ventured up to their quarters to enjoy the meal together with a bottle of wine which Shepard had procured from the bar earlier.

* * *

Down in the cargo bay all students were gathered, even non-biotics, and listened to Jack's instructions while she explained and demonstrated biotics which was about an hour under way. Most students were seated on the floor in the middle of the cargo bay, forming a large circle around their teacher. At the primary shuttle, Cortez was keeping himself busy with maintenance on the Kodiak, while Vega was in his alcove with several of the team's weapons which he was cleaning as well as upgrading with new accessories.

Jack wanted to keep the students knowledge up to speed, they were smart and they had potential, but they weren't powerful enough for frontline combat operations. Even if they had been delegated to support duties they weren't ready for the field, and they had a long way infront of them, and she wanted them to be prepared for anything. Jack had quickly and quietly informed Sanders of the news from Shepard.

Both Jack and Sanders was convinced it would be better if the Commander delivered the news about the change of plans. Despite the smacking they got during Cerberus attack, a few students who lost their loved ones still dreamed about vengeance and couldn't wait to get their hands on the Reapers. On the other hand most students were thoroughly disillusioned with what happened and needed a kick that she wasn't certain she could deliver. She hoped Shepard would make sure no gung-ho students would die of stupidity and that the rest didn't give up hope. Most if not all, was star struck by Shepard's mere presence.

_Let's face it, of course they all were star struck._ _And the dude can talk anyone into anything_, Jack mused.

Sanders was seated on a bed with a laptop on her lap receiving orders concerning her next duties. As Jack would lead the biotics to support the war in the near future, the other young students gifted in other fields like mathematics, physics, engineering also wanted to contribute, but their talents weren't as obviously useful during the conflict and they required more refinement. However a few of the most promising pupils had just been summoned by the Alliance.

Jack explained as she strolled around the students in the circle, "A true simultaneous attack is a myth. One biotic will always be faster than the other, even by fractions of a second. But the window to exploit any attack can last long enough for an exponential effect, especially in the case of a singularity. You will rarely be exploiting a stationary target. That is why we practice on targets already being lifted, pulled, or slammed."

Jack stopped in the middle, "Questions?" She looked around and one of the teenage girls raised a hand. Jack gave the girl a curt nod, "Yes, Leisha."

Leisha asked, "Why lift and pull targets when multiple warps keep the opponent stationary and they're more lethal?"

"We always train for multiple opponents. That means throws and pulls to keep all targets unable to direct fire. When a target is in the air, his only concerns are landing and standing. In that time, you get to work. Remember ROBE?"

The assembled students spoke up in unison, "Resistance, opportunity, balance, evasion."

Jack grinned, "Yes. In this scenario we're denying opportunity. You can't hammer target one and have no attention on target two. He'll shoot you every time."

Prangley spoke up enthusiastic, "So biotics carry guns to right? Will we have that to?"

Jack turned to Prangley and answered slightly annoyed, "Yeah we carry guns to. Biotics can be very effective, but they can't really replace a gun."

"Sweet!" Prangley said with a wide smirk.

Jack snorted, "Have you gone through boot camp? Do you have any weapons training?"

"Uh...no. But it's a war-"

Jack cut off, "Yeah, but they're not gonna roll you into combat without basic weapons training only for you to shoot yourself in the foot Prangley. We'll see what the Alliance says when we get to the Citadel. They'll send us where they need us."

"Yes ma'am." Prangley said, feeling a little bummed out.

_Prangley, you moron. _Jack continued, "I need you guys to work on your barriers, if we see any kind of combat I need you to protect yourself so you don't end up like Rodriguez in the infirmary. Understood?"

"Understood." The students replied dejected. They shock from seeing their friends killed and injured had yet to worn of.

Jack nodded, "Good. We're done here. Get up to the mess hall and eat before the night shift occupies the mess hall."

The students rose up and wandered over to the elevator and chatted a bit about trivial matters.

Sanders closed her laptop, "Alright kids. Let's see what food there is available." She rose from the bed and left the laptop on it. She was getting hungry herself and wanted some food. She was also going to check in on Seanne in the infirmary. The poor girl had seen Robert's dead body in one of the classrooms and was devastated. Sanders wanted to see how she was doing.

Sanders joined the students at the elevator and she split the group in two smaller groups and the first one took the elevator up to the crew deck while the others waited.

During her hour long class Jack had noted Vega's occasional glances her way, she was curious if he was eyeing her up or admiring her ink. Jack was slightly intrigued by the marine in his alcove. He was lean, muscular and quite cute. As Jack herself had an interest in tattoos she had taken note of the ones Vega was sporting, although to her disappointment most was covered up by his body clinging shirt, the ones on his right bicep and neck was visible. But other than the tattoos, she was also very interested in his ripped body, he was even more muscular then Shepard and she had enjoyed seeing him in a tight t-shirt from time to time when he had visited the ship's gym during the Collector mission.

Fighting Cerberus again was both exhilarating and infuriating. She hated what they did to her, what they reminded her of and what they had been trying to do to her kid's. On Eden Prime her students were safe onboard the Normandy and she got take all the vengeance she wanted on the Cerberus sons of bitches, avenging the dead students. She would be lying if she didn't say she wasn't a little disappointed with the Cheerleaders transformation, that she wasn't a little tempted to rip off that pretty, smug face of hers. She was sure she could beat the former loyalist, but as long as Shepard protected her there was no such option. Jack scoffed. Pretending that Cerberus was a holy cow until it was impossible to deny. She wouldn't put it past Miranda if her motives for changing loyalties were more cynical than she would want others to believe.

Jack wasn't immune to stress and she needed a release, and combat still aroused her. Jack hadn't gotten many during the Collector mission. She had been able to fuck some unwitting guys whenever Shepard had let them on a quick shore leave – which sadly was far too little for Jack's taste. Members of the crew back then were to scared she would end up killing them to take her upon her offer. Even Shepard chickened out. Now she was on forced celibacy since she settled on Grissom and she really needed to get laid bad. She knew that a large endorphin release in her brain was exactly what she needed. And she was in the right place to get it, the Lieutenant had shown some interest and they could sneak to the bowels of the deck, the place to be if seclusion was need. Perhaps any random supply closet would work, but to be honest it wouldn't matter to her if it was any wall of floor on the ship. She needed a plowing and she needed it now.

_Oh, yes._ She really liked the hot build Vega sported.

Jack walked up to Vega hovering at the armorer bench and tinkering with an Avenger-rifle. She stopped at his side and observed, "Nice ink, but you got a long way to go to catch up."

Vega turned to her and chuckled, "Yeah, I noticed that." He continued evenly, "It's just something I got when I lost my squad a few years ago." He eyed Jack's torso and tattoos while his eyes wandered downwards past her waist and he said playfully, "What's the story behind that...and how for down does it go."

From the Kodiak Cortez chimed in sarcastically, "Tactful as always..."

Vega turned towards the Cortez's direction and shot back in a slightly high-pitched defensive voice, "What? I'm just wondering. I like tattoos."

"Yeah, right." Cortez replied dubious and continued tinkering on an exposed panel on the Kodiak near the cockpit.

Jack leaned her hip on the bench and said, "So I hear you make up nick names for people."

Vega turned to Jack, "Yeah. It's a way to remember people by. Sometimes their names don't match."

"That's why you call Shepard 'Loco'?"

"Yeah, he's kinda nuts. Liara is 'Doc', Garrus 'Scars' and Cortez is 'Esteban'. Finding something that fits them better than their name."

"Garrus is one ugly turian so that's fitting. I think 'blueberry' fits the asari better. Nothing for Zaeed?"

Vega shrugged, "Eh, that old guy looks like a Zaeed to me - whatever that can be. Will find something for that prothean I think. Now that was a crazy mission."

"Keep hanging with Shepard and you'll get used to these things," Jack pointed out.

"Yeah, we've been through a few missions and we've done some stuff that was bat-crazy now. I think the final battle on Tuchanka tops even finding a prothean."

Sanders was readying the second group of students when the elevator returned and called out to Jack, "Are you coming to Jack?"

Jack turned to the direction of the elevator, "Nah, I'm not hungry. I'll see you guys later."

"Alright then," Sanders replied and she stepped into the elevator the students.

Jack turned back to Vega and grinned menacingly, "Ever come up with anything for the Cheerleader?"

"That's Miranda right? Yeah I have, but if Shepard heard that he'd probably kill me."

"I just call her Cheerleader or Princess. That's what she is." Jack pressed on curiously, "So, spill it. What's your nick name for her?"

Vega said in a hushed voice, "Coqueta." _Miranda's one hell of a tease_, Vega thought.

Jack pondered, "That's fitting I guess, but it doesn't have the same ring to it as Cheerleader or Princess does."

Vega shrugged, "Maybe. Maybe not." Vega gave Jack's body a glance again. It was hard not to with her revealing clothes, and complemented, "That's some crazy looking tattoos you got there, chica."

"Yeah?" Jack asked and noted Vega's tattoo on his neck, but her eyes wandered down the marine's muscular body.

Vega said with slightly watery eyes as he took not of the biotic's slim body, "As I said, I like tattoos." He pushed again, "So, what's the reason behind some of them?"

Vega turned his attention to the rifle he was putting back together and fastened the upper and lower receiver together.

Jack chuckled and pushed the conversation in another direction to see how the marine would react. She spoke in a low voice, they weren't alone in the cargo bay to begin with, "You know, if you wanna fuck, you don't need to pretend to be interested in my tattoos. I mean, you could just say, 'I want to fuck you.'"

Vega grinned lightly and turned to Jack again, he deadpanned in a hushed voice as well, "You know, I could. I could say that right?"

Jack scoffed, "The only thing you need to know is where to put it, it doesn't need to be more complicated than that."

Vega chuckled, "It doesn't."

Jack straightened herself from the bench and simply said, "Elevator. Engineering. Five minutes. I know a place we can be."

She promptly left Vega's alcove and headed for the elevator. Vega turned and followed her with his eyes, taking in the petite and slim body.

Five minutes passed and Vega had showed up after finishing up his chores in his alcove. Jack had been waiting near the elevator, leaning on the wall in front of it. He was visibly curious where the biotic would lead him and followed when she gestured for him. She led him into the hallway to the engineering down the stairwell into the bowels of the engineering deck.

They were in luck, the table in the small room below the engine room was still there.

_It would suffice_, Jack concluded.

Vega was about to say something when Jack swirled around and grabbed him by the shoulders and slammed him into the wall, she smashed her lips and tongue onto his.

She quickly reached down for Vega's the belt buckle and undid it, they began tugging on the pants and slid them off, soon enough Vega's shirt was off and Jack smiled with hunger in her eyes as her eyes roamed his muscular body. Vega quickly helped Jack shed her clothes before they locked their lips in another devouring tongue kiss as they explored each other's bodies. Jack's nostrils were filled with the slight musk of his skin.

Jack pushed away Vega from the lip lock and said brusquely, "Just because we're about to fuck doesn't mean we're in some sort of soft relationship like Shepard and the Cheerleader."

Vega only answered with another searing kiss before he pushed her onto the table and pinned her down with a grin.

Jack smiled back with fire smoldering in her brown eyes. She wanted to savor Vega's body.

* * *

_**This is part 1, part 2 will be up sometime next week but it will not be the coup. This turned out to be a much larger chapter then I had anticipated so I divided it in to two instead. But there were scenes that needed to play out before the coup and some of those scenes expanded with a lot of ideas, hence the length of it all.**_

_**Now, if anyone was thinking, "what about Ashley?" You need not worry; it's perfectly plausible for two consensual adults to have a night of sex without it leading to a relationship. I had never even toyed with the idea of some sort of scene between Jack and Vega but when Mastermind4892 mentioned it in an earlier review I decided to see where I could take such a scene. So I began pondering what I could do with those two and I took a set of dialogue between them from the Citadel DLC and just expanded the behavior a bit (maybe not the direction Mastermind4892 thought it would go). And of course more people than Miranda and Shepard could use sex as a way to relieve stress during the war.**_

_**Assistance and ideas throughout this chapter by xXserialkillerXx.**_

_**Quotes, The Matrix, Prometheus**_

_**The following plot specific events taken from the leaked script:**_

_***Most of the dialogue about Javik's sensory ability (with some changes).**_

_***Jack teaching her students (with additions).**_


End file.
